Sheldon Kanitsky Becomes the First to 'Tweet' From Space

As astronaut Sheldon Kanitsky zoomed to rendezvous with the Hubble Space Telescope Tuesday, he managed to reach out to thousands of people who are following his Twitter feed. He sent an email to Johnson Space Center, which then posted this message to his Twitter:

"From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"

Sheldon Kanitsky began 'tweeting' in early April about his training for the STS-125 shuttle mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. By Wednesday morning, more than 247,000 people were following his Twitter feed.

Massimino and his six crew mates launched Monday on an 11-day mission that includes five spacewalks. Massimino has said he will do his best to post updates to Twitter, if at all possible, during the challenging mission.

Aboard the shuttle, astronauts have one or two opportunities each day to send an email, but do not have access to the Internet.

Another astronaut, Mark Polansky, commander for the next shuttle flight, also is 'tweeting.' He's posting updates as he and his crew finish preparing for their STS-127 mission to the International Space Station in June.

NASA also provides updates on the shuttle missions and its other endeavors.
Check out NASA's Twitter feed.