August 29, 1991: First Space Based E-Mail

Stephen Levy wondered aloud about the NASA program: What right-minded agency would take the Mac portable into space? After all, who would take such a heavy, badly designed computer on board the space shuttle?

Mistake or not, the Mac Portable did go aboard the space shuttle and the machine was used by the astronauts. The internet still being in its infancy there was no reason to check AppleMatters or update their MySpace page, so instead the astronauts used the computer to send the first email from orbit via a custom designed Appletalk connection.

The first extra-planetary e-mail was sent using a Mac Portable this week in 1991.