Check Out the First Email Sent From Space

By Lindsay Friedman | Mar 03, 2016

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

During a nine-day space mission, the crew from STS-43 sent the first email from outer space.

It was the ninth mission for Space Shuttle Atlantis and while the main goal was to launch a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, sending an email from one of the first portable MAC computers is pretty cool, too.

Related: 8 Relics From Big Tech Companies That Will Make You Feel Old

According to IDG Connect, the email read:

“Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”

At the time the 16-pound computer and hard drive used to send the email were worth a little over $7,000. That’s more than $13,000 in current dollars.

Related: For the First Time Ever, NASA Astronauts Eat Vegetables Grown in Space

If an email isn’t enough to impress you, there’s a video of the astronauts ejecting a floppy disk from the device — in space, of course.

During a nine-day space mission, the crew from STS-43 sent the first email from outer space.

It was the ninth mission for Space Shuttle Atlantis and while the main goal was to launch a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, sending an email from one of the first portable MAC computers is pretty cool, too.

Related: 8 Relics From Big Tech Companies That Will Make You Feel Old

According to IDG Connect, the email read:

“Hello Earth! Greetings from the STS-43 Crew. This is the first AppleLink from space. Having a GREAT time, wish you were here,…send cryo and RCS! Hasta la vista, baby,…we’ll be back!”

At the time the 16-pound computer and hard drive used to send the email were worth a little over $7,000. That’s more than $13,000 in current dollars.

Related: For the First Time Ever, NASA Astronauts Eat Vegetables Grown in Space

If an email isn’t enough to impress you, there’s a video of the astronauts ejecting a floppy disk from the device — in space, of course.

Lindsay Friedman

Staff writer. Frequently covers franchise news and food trends.
Lindsay Friedman is a staff writer at Entrepreneur.com.

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