Newsgroup: it.comp.retrocomputing
Titolo: Questa e' mitica

space shuttle by the NASA some years ago.
We believe you are referring to shuttle launch STS-43.  The primary
mission
of STS-43 was to deploy a fourth TDRS satellite (Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite). The shuttle was launched at 11:02 AM EST on Friday August 2,
1991, and landed at about 8:30 AM EST on Sunday August 11, 1991.
The shuttle carried a Macintosh Portable (nonbacklit) system on board.
It
was used for four primary purposes:
1) Testing four cursor control devices:
    a) the PortableÕs built-in trackball
    b) a modified aircraft control stick fitted with a thumb ball at top
    c) a 2-inch trackball
    d) an optical mouse
Some bushings were placed under the trackball for experiment 1a to take
up the small amount of slack.  Experiments 1b-d were performed with
third
party products.
2) Connecting to AppleLink and sending mail and disk files.  The very
first
   electronic mail message from space was sent by the crew of the space
   shuttle mission on Friday, August 9, 1991.  You may be interested in
   that message:
"Hello Earth !  Greetings from the STS-43 Crew.  This is the first
AppleLink from space.  Having a __GREAT__ time, wish you were here,...
send
cry, and CS! Have a nice day...... Haste la vista, baby,... we'll be
back!"
editor's note:
    cry = cryogenics (meaning, send more fuel for life support--air,
etc.)
    CS = Reaction Control System (meaning, send more fuel for
    manoeuvring/control) In other words, they wanted to stay up there!
To connect to AppleLink the modem was modified by NASA to work with
their synchronous DCE equipment.  AppleLink modifications were made to
deal
with, among other things, routing and packet delays.
3) Recording LB NP (lower body negative pressure) medical results along
   with other mission notes and provided procedures for doing medical
   experiments.
4) Shuttle flight path tracking using an application called (Shuttle
   Portable Computer).  It presents a real-time display of the shuttleÕs
   orbital position against a world map along with day and night cycles,
   tracking stations, and emergency reentry information.
In addition, the Macintosh acted as an alarm clock (in tandem with the
WristMacª) alerting the crew when it is time to do certain experiments,
and so on.
Modifications were also made by NASA to the battery system (we believe a
circuit breaker was added to meet the safety requirements and
regulations
for personal gear transported into space).  Since this date, Apple
portable
computers are continued to be used in other NASA space missions; we have
no
details on those missions.  MacWeek published an article in late 1991 on
mission STS-43 you may wish to pursue.  In general, the Portable was
basically a stock Macintosh with very few modifications.
Copyright 1993, Apple Computer, Inc.
This information is from the Apple Technical Information Library.
ArticleID: TECHINFO-0014039
19960724 15:55:27.00
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Strano !
Da mie fonti non mi risultava che Apple fornisse Nasa per i computers
portatili da imbarcare sugli shuttle !
A me risulta da fonte Nasa, l'utilizzi dei GRID ed ultimamente degli
HP !
Comunque chiedo informazioni urgenti in merito.
Saluti
Paolo Binotti
[Yoghi the Bear]
Vigevano, Pv
ITALY
inf...@tin.it