Tweets From Space

A space station astronaut’s first Twitter message from space reached followers on Earth on August 4.
Tweets From Space
NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra standing on forward port side area of space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay on July 18, 2009 in space. The Endeavor brought Kopra to the International Space Station where he is sharing his experiences via Tweeter. (NASA via Getty Images)
8/6/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/89104780kopra.jpg" alt="NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra standing on forward port side area of space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay on July 18, 2009 in space. The Endeavor brought Kopra to the International Space Station where he is sharing his experiences via Tweeter.  (NASA via Getty Images)" title="NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra standing on forward port side area of space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay on July 18, 2009 in space. The Endeavor brought Kopra to the International Space Station where he is sharing his experiences via Tweeter.  (NASA via Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1826914"/></a>
NASA Astronaut Tim Kopra standing on forward port side area of space shuttle Endeavour's cargo bay on July 18, 2009 in space. The Endeavor brought Kopra to the International Space Station where he is sharing his experiences via Tweeter.  (NASA via Getty Images)
A space station astronaut’s first Twitter message from space reached followers on Earth on August 4. Utilizing the online social networking service Twitter, NASA astronaut Tim Kopra became the first International Space Station (ISS) crew member to tweet from space.

A popular service ballooning in its number of users, the micro-blogging site Twitter has been used worldwide from eyewitnesses of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, to protesters during the recent Iranian presidential election, to supporters following President Barack Obama on his presidential campaign. It has become both a tool of casual communication and a rapid means of emergency contact.

As a flight engineer and a colonel in the U.S. Army, Kopra will be describing his experiences living and working from space. For his first Twitter message, Kopra posted, “What a fun shuttle mission—especially w [with] 13 people on board station. Life here is amazing—still getting used to floating!”

With six other crew members, Kopra arrived at the space station in July via the space shuttle Endeavor. Users can continue to follow Kopra (username Astro_Tim) during his 16-day long mission.

Orbiting 220 miles above the Earth, Kopra has made himself accessible to readers both by posting messages on Twitter and by periodically answering questions on the U.S. Army’s Web site.

Although Kopra is the first to send Twitter messages from the ISS, he’s not the first astronaut to tweet from space. Fellow NASA astronaut Mike Massimino made Twitter history when he posted space’s first Twitter message during the mission to repair the Hubble telescope last May.

Followed by 756,759 readers, Missimino blogged about his daily exploits in orbit, from listening to his iPod while watching the world go by, to floating around in his sleeping bag, to describing the bright city lights of Earth from above.

Missimino’s other posts read: “From orbit: Eating chocolates in space, floating then in front of me then floating and eating them like I am a fish,” and “From orbit: We see 16 sunrises and sunsets in 24 hrs, each one spectacular as the sun lights up the atmosphere in a spectrum of colors.”

Interest in Kopra is gaining rapidly. He currently has 3,444 followers on Twitter, garnering as many as a thousand followers within an hour. From launch to re-entry, he will provide detailed reactions to those sitting by waiting to catch a glimpse of space for themselves.