NASA Launches HP iPAQ Pocket PCs Into Space

6 May 2004 19:23 GMT / By Stuart Miles

It seems the gadget loving space boys of the Expedition 9 astronaut and cosmonaut crew aboard the International Space Station Soyuz 8 space craft are using HP's iPAQs to wile away their time.

The iPAQs will be used as mobile productivity tools to record daily crew procedures, write personal memos and check e-mail and calendars. The Astronauts then hope to use them in downtime to listen to MP3's and play solitaire - hey astronauts need to chill out too.

Two iPAQ h5550 units kitted out with rechargeable batteries, PC Card Expansion Packs, barcode scanners and Secure Digital memory cards will remain aboard the space station and be reconfigured for each new crew. For the next flight, two additional iPAQs are expected to launch to the station along with the usual supply of medical and scientific equipment.

Full tags

Phones, PDAs, Windows Mobile, HP