iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour - Gizmodo Comments

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

YouCanEatMe — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:50:46 EDT

@markarian: About 6 years ago I think, the shuttles computers were replaced top to bottom with brand spankin' new first Genration Pentiums. Apparently they don't use the latest technology on the orbiter because it takes about four years to test a computer's ability to withstand the abuse of a shuttle launch and the bombardment of radiation in space and then the time to incorporate the new tech into regular retrofits on the vehicles. The shuttles are EASILY 10 years behind the curve as far as desktop power goes. Surprising isn't it? I think the ISS currently has better computers that the Shuttle. Write NASA PR and they'll dig it up for you.

YouCanEatMe

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

YouCanEatMe — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:39:27 EDT

@Theophilus P. Wildebeeste: But the Shuttle is. that iPod's not taking any more damage from cosmic rays than the crew.

YouCanEatMe

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

ViperBorg — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:40:38 EDT

@Airport_Whiskey: That would be cool to watch.

ViperBorg

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

groovyone — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:06:00 EDT

Yep, I am actually the guy who got the task of starting the certification for these on the Shuttle. We popped them apart, yanked the rechargable battery, and used the Belkin external battery pack since AA batteries were already certified for use on the shuttle. They are for the crew personal use.

groovyone

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

godkorg — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:15:59 EDT

THEY ALLOW IPDS OVER CDPLAYERS for the space savings! Also they are modded to use AA batteries as they are the only type certified to be caried on the shuttle. Also, they are not allowed in the space station yet as the AA batteries are not certified for use on THAT... so yeah cool! =)

godkorg

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

lifehacker99 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:37:05 EDT

@Discofunk:

Unless Nasa is faking it on their website, I have to say this is real...

[spaceflight.nasa.gov]

lifehacker99

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Airport_Whiskey — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:14:38 EDT

I wonder if you disconnected the headphones and let it float free, would it spin counter to the rotation of the hard drive? (being in zero-g and all...) I imagine it sorta like a helicopter with a bum tail rotor.

Airport_Whiskey

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

fastmike — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:55:36 EDT

perks @ cheese sandwiches and whores

fastmike

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Xultar — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 08:06:37 EDT

Iron Eagles in Space

Xultar

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

XianZomby — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:43:40 EDT

The REAL real story here, is that the iPod has more modern technology onboard than the Space Shuttle's 1970s design. What's the most advanced piece of equipment in the picture? The iPod.

XianZomby

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

skulldriveshaft — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:53:13 EDT

sorry that's a knockoff

skulldriveshaft

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

brundlefly76 — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:25:04 EDT

@Dr_Blip: why get sponsors when you have all this tax revenue lying around?

brundlefly76

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

ftheiphone — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:53:40 EDT

The real question here is, so I bring my Ipod to space with me and the cosmic rays ruin it, will Best Buy still cover it under warranty, I mean I stepped on mine before and it was covered. Some one wanna check the fine print on the PSP to see if cosmic ray damage is exempted?

ftheiphone

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

tetrion — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:58:19 EDT

@strider_mt2k: Actually no, you forgot the crew of the shuttle and space station...

tetrion

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

turbofreak — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:50:54 EDT

Hey it's my old iPod!

turbofreak

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

four12 — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:18:24 EDT

@ethanthom: Not always. Normal orbital attitude is with the payload bay doors, which act as radiators, pointed away from the sun.

The shuttle can operate for limited periods in any attitude.

four12

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

ethanthom — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:57:23 EDT

@strider_mt2k: I can't believe the photo is real.The shuttle flies with the heat shield towards the sun.Isn't that the earth I see in the bottom corners of the photo.PHOTOSHOP

ethanthom

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Klappstuhl — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:36:43 EDT

phucking fanboys...

Klappstuhl

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

shaolinmonk — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:33:52 EDT

reminds me of all the crap I nned to clean off my work van dash.

shaolinmonk

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

bigMoneyMIKE — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:12:25 EDT

@Theophilus P. Wildebeeste: Thats actually not true. All of the remaining orbiters received massive retrofits with state-of-the-art everything a few years back.

bigMoneyMIKE

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

strider_mt2k — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:37:26 EDT

@ tetrion:
That would officially make you the LAST person on the planet to realize this.
(That includes unfound tribes.)

Yes, the Giz loves it's Apple.

Sorry you're the last person on the planet on board with this concept, but at least EVERYONE is now, finally.

strider_mt2k

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

mrsalty — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:28:16 EDT

[spaceflight.nasa.gov]

here is the image

and another

[spaceflight.nasa.gov]

maybe that is why the space toilet was so expensive it had a built in ipod dock.

mrsalty

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

mrsalty — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:24:10 EDT

[images.google.com]

iPods have been on the shuttle for years. I love these suitcases they bring up though.

mrsalty

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

ShadowGod — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:40:52 EDT

It's not hard to see at all, there is a huge high rez pic at Nasa it doesnt take any sharp eye to see it.

ShadowGod

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Amiash Day Five — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:53:55 EDT

that is one sharp eye

Amiash Day Five

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

four12 — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:51:21 EDT

@videoCWK: No, zero G.

four12

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

frigg — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:56:17 EDT

Music and space? I shall have to try that.

frigg

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

tetrion — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:22:19 EDT

Geez you fanboys will post anything remotely related to apple... Next you'll be posting pics of the toasted cheese sandwich with an apparition of a apple logo in the charred fat.

tetrion

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Git Em SteveDave is starlost — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:19:52 EDT

@Alex99a: Agreed. In the old days, yes, astronauts snuck stuff on board, but not today.

I also recall seeing old 3-2-1 Contacts, Reading Rainbows, etcc... and other such PBS shows where they talked with the Astromen, and they said they listened to walkmans while they slept or had downtime. I'm sure stuff is going on 24 hours a day to maxamize the mission time, which requires shifts, and you don't want to be sleeping and woken up when Rockhound blasts an Armadillo with a remote controlled gatling gun.

Git Em SteveDave is starlost

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Alex99a — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:40:24 EDT

Boy, when it comes to computers in space and the space program in general, you people don't have any idea what you are talking about.

--- nothing like that is "sneaked" on board.

--- the crew on both the shuttle and the ISS use literally DOZENS of laptop computers, Thinkpads, and there is AMPLE information available on what they are. Your search kung fu is obviously lacking.

Alex99a

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

HeavyMellow — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:19:37 EDT

Personally I've never had any problems with any of my devices lithium batteries in space. In fact I don't know whether it's just the being in space part, but they seem to work better.

HeavyMellow

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

zarchitect — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 07:31:26 EDT

With the 1,459,234 iPod docks out there, there has to be at least ONE that could be used as a model to use for docking 2 objects that aren't meant to be attached...

zarchitect

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Major-Havoc — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:45:20 EDT

I can't believe all of you are missing the real story here.
Look, that iPod is sitting in the cup holder!

Who knew there were cup holders on the space shuttle?
Damn NASA, what will you think of next?

Major-Havoc

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

--Tito-- — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:41:50 EDT

@markarian: LOL

--Tito--

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Discofunk — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 03:40:11 EDT

From the angle of the sun light as judge by the shadow of the communication dish the supposed iPod is way to bright...

Discofunk

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

markarian — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:53:15 EDT

It's possible it was sneaked on board by an astronaut or had the battery simply removed to run on the Shuttle's DC power system. It'd be a shame if it wasn't supposed to be there and the astronaut got in trouble because the 'net was like "LOL iPod!"

I remember trying to research what type of PCs they use up there, and the answer is "..."

Seriously, there is zero information out there for what kind of computers are used in space. There was a modified thinkpad, but it was ten years old and wouldn't be useful anymore.

NASA is indeed very careful about product promotion. I guess they feel that no company should have that kind of free publicity. If NASA is so cash-strapped, maybe they should slap some stickers on the side of that ship and raise us some funds. They may, however, cause a major burn-up on re-entry.

If the Russians aren't afraid of whoring out their space program, we should do the same.

markarian

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

strider_mt2k — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:40:32 EDT

BS BS BS

If you had the chance to go into space you'd leave your stupid music player behind if they said to.

Get real.

strider_mt2k

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Mandatory_Field — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:05:18 EDT

Reminds me of the early days of the shuttle program: The astronauts used to bring Grid laptops along, so they knew where they actually where....

Mandatory_Field

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

shenanigans61 — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:57:20 EDT

@pipper: My thoughts exactly. For crying out loud, we're building CARS with 30G integrated MP3 players. [paradox] Get with the program, NASA! [/paradox]

shenanigans61

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

videoCWK — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:27:12 EDT

It appears to be a 4g

videoCWK

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

andrelix — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:19:08 EDT

...ahhhh, American Beauty, the life I want, right up until the end. I don't care for blood that much, especially mine!

andrelix

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

PiersRippey — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:07:27 EDT

@D-Bo:
...which was itself a parody of the scene from American Beauty, a film which has surprisingly little to do with space or astronauts. What were we talking about?

PiersRippey

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

bedammit — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:55:32 EDT

Historically, NASA has been very careful about product promotion.

It wouldn't surprise me if iPods were considered not for public view.

Other goodies that NASA didnt want to promote.

M&Ms
Tang
Oreos

Plenty so see here... don't move on.
Search more!

dv
(Ex Space Camp Counselor)

bedammit

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Git Em SteveDave is starlost — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:53:49 EDT

I'm guessing it's for personal use, and not for playing over the ships loudspeakers. It's the same reason the bus driver on a city bus doesn't play the radio, everyone just wears their headphones. I'm guessing that rather than replace the batteries, they remove it, and use a dock connector to tie it into an external pack. Makes more sense than to try to shove a different battery in the case.

I'm really guessing this is for when the spaceanouts goto sleep.

Git Em SteveDave is starlost

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:41:51 EDT

^^^ Because they cannot integrate modern electronics into the Shuttle's aging design, that is.

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:40:53 EDT

@pipper: Heck, NASA have to trawl the yard sales for electronics with which to replace any that fails.

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

iching — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:29:38 EDT

well.... this whole super space machine should have a mp3 player attached.... seems like......

iching

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

D-Bo — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:24:08 EDT

@Stang70Fastback: Agreed.

Your response made me think of the following scene from Family Guy when Peter is videotaping a plastic bag blowing in the wind:

Peter: "Look, its dancing with me! Its like there is this incredible benevolent force that wants me to know that theres no reason to be afraid. Sometimes theres so much beauty in the world it makes my heart burst."

God: "It's just some trash blowing in the wind. Do you have any idea how complicated your circulatory system is?!"

D-Bo

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

pipper — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:17:15 EDT

@Stang70Fastback
Yeah, will billion of $ put into the space shuttle program, and after years of operation and numerous upgrages, and there is still no built-in MP3 CD player?

pipper

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

heroineworshipper — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:06:02 EDT

So why aren't fans doing what needs to be done to keep AAPL stock over $200?

heroineworshipper

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:03:11 EDT

I wonder how long it will last.

HDNet explained during one of their ISS coverages, that their HD cameras don't last long due to the cosmic rays, and they are heavily shielded for use in outer space, that iPod isn't.

Theophilus P. Wildebeeste

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

MisterSleep — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:56:23 EDT

Kinda nuts to remember that the first moon landing was orchestrated by less computing power than in that ipod.

MisterSleep

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

DeadWriter — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:55:28 EDT

If a toilet on the Space Shuttle costs millions of dollars then what does an iPod cost?

DeadWriter

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

DeadWriter — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:52:11 EDT

I heard it was registerd to a ...">Major Tom.

DeadWriter

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Stang70Fastback — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:49:09 EDT

I just think it's silly, looking at this amazing photograph of this incredible spaceship that took years to design and build, contains more than 1,000,000 parts and carries enormous payloads of some of the most incredibly complicated pieces of equipment ever manufactured up tens of miles above the earth - and STILL the thing that draws attention above all else in the photograph, is the iPod on the dashboard...

Stang70Fastback

iPod Pictured Onboard Space Shuttle Endeavour

Dr_Blip — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 23:37:31 EDT

I thought NASA was sponsored by Zune?

Dr_Blip