On May 12th, 09, Twitter made history again when Astronaut Mike Massimino sent a 139-character tweet, the first from space. Well, not directly from space…
@Asktemi I wrote the tweets in space and sent them each day to NASA public affairs who posted them on my twitter site, they are all from me
Logistics out of the way, what follows is a transcript of every tweet Astro_Mike wrote in orbit and sent to Mission Control for them to tweet.
President Obama makes an appearance, as does Orion. But my favorite tweet by far is when Astro_Mike observes that stars don’t twinkle in space
From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!
2:33 PM May 12th from web
From orbit: Getting more accustomed to living in space today and getting ready for our big rendezvous with hubble
8:16 AM May 13th from web
From orbit: Rendezvous and grapple were great, getting ready for our first spacewalk
5:59 AM May 14th from web
From orbit: My spacewalk was amazing, we had some tough problems, but through them all, the view of our precious planet was beautiful
7:38 AM May 16th from web
From orbit: This is an awesome experience, the privilege to fly in space and work on the Hubble is beyond my dreams
3:48 PM May 16th from web
From orbit: At the end of my spacewalk, I had time to just look at the Earth, the most awesome sight my eyes have seen, undescribable
6:43 AM May 18th from web
From orbit: My second spacewalk was long but all worked out in the end, team effort
6:45 AM May 18th from web
From orbit: Just flew over the US, Baja to Miami in about 10 minutes! Beautiful Day!!
9:35 AM May 18th from web
From orbit: Hard to sleep last night after my spacewalk, images of the work and the views still vivid in my mind.
9:36 AM May 18th from web
From orbit: Our fifth and final spacewalk is over, everyone is happy, time for a crew dinner to celebrate!
2:25 AM May 19th from web
From orbit: Eating chocolates in space, floating then in front of me then floating and eating them like I am a fish
2:26 AM May 19th from web
From orbit: Getting ready for bed, sleeping in space is cool, tie down your sleeping bag and float inside of it, very relaxing
2:27 AM May 19th from web
From orbit: Listening to Sting on my ipod watching the world go by – literally
4:04 PM May 19th from web
From orbit: The Earth is so beautiful, it is like looking into paradise
4:04 PM May 19th from web
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
4:06 PM May 19th from web
From orbit: My only regret when viewing the Earth is that my wife & children are not with me to see it (along with all of you following me)
4:08 PM May 19th from web
From orbit: Viewing the Earth is a study of contrasts, beautiful colors of the planet, thin blue line of atmosphere, pure blackness of space
4:08 PM May 19th from web
From orbit: The stars at night in space do not twinkle, they look like perfect points of light and I can clearly see the milky way galaxy
6:33 AM May 20th from web
From orbit: Flying over the Pacific Ocean at night there were some thunder storms, it is so cool to see lightning go off below the clouds
6:33 AM May 20th from web
From orbit: It is so beautiful up here, I wish everyone could see it
6:34 AM May 20th from web
From orbit: As I closed my eyes to sleep last night I thought “these eyes have seen some beautiful sights today”
8:39 AM May 20th from web
From orbit: Enjoying a day off in space, taking photos, enjoying the view, having fun
8:40 AM May 20th from web
From orbit: Just a video conference with my family, it was great to see them
3:33 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: Just took our official on-orbit crew photo on Space Shuttle Atlantis
3:33 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: Just finished our one and only on-orbit press conference, got a question about twitter from space
3:34 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: Just finished a ship to ship call with the crew of the International Space Station, 2 space ship crew talking to each other
3:34 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: Night pass over Australia, the city lights give stunning signs of life on our planet within the darkness of nighttime
3:34 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: Just saw Orion’s nebula in the night sky – the sights make all the hard work and risk worthwhile for me
3:35 PM May 20th from web
From orbit: got a call from President Obama, it was a great event for our crew and very thoughtful of the President
7:49 AM May 21st from web
From orbit: Watching our commander, Scott “Scooter” Altman, practice space shuttle landings using a laptop
7:50 AM May 21st from web
From orbit: Just got up for our last full day on orbit, time to start packing up
7:50 AM May 21st from web
From orbit: Finished packing up our big white spacewalking suits and securing them for a safe landing
7:51 AM May 21st from web
From orbit: Setting up video cameras out the commanders window and on the flight deck to record the landing
7:51 AM May 21st from web
From orbit: Just had our re-entry brief with mission control, we will try landing tomorrow a.m. but weather in FL looks iffy
12:56 PM May 21st from web
If you can’t get enough of these orbit tweets, follow Mark Polansky @Astro_127. He’s up there right now!