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Astronauts Get Tricoders (Almost)

Posted by michael on from the dr.-mccoy-was-playing-tetris dept.

AzrealAO writes "Space.com is reporting that The Expedition 9 crew aboard the International Space Station are equipped with HP iPAQ PocketPC's, which they are using as mobile productivity tools to record crew procedures, personal memos, check e-mail and calendars. The crew can also listen to music, view photos from home and read e-books. The iPAQs will be left on the station and reconfigured for future crews, and two additional iPAQs will be sent up on the next flight for a total of four."

7 of 156 comments (clear)

  1. Aren't Tricorders Sensors?? by Blastrogath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought the whole point of a tricorder was a portible package of a ton of sensors and a little computing power to run analisys of the data. Tricorders are used to measure stuff, not take notes. These things are more like the star trek data tablets if anything.

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  2. keeping in touch by acceber · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The crew will also be able to listen to music, view photos from home and read e-books, allowing them to have some of the comforts of home on their journey.
    Considering that the Expedition 9 crew are spending almost 6 months aboard the International Space Station, this is a great way of keeping in touch with family and civilisation as a whole.

    The iPaq being used in space is another example where the benefits of technology can be felt as it would reduce the effects of "asthenia" where astronauts experience phases of fatigue, low motivation, hypersensitivty and irritability with the change in environment and lack of social communication. The iPaq obviously aims to provide a solution to that problem to a great extent.

  3. Ah, the self-delusion of fiction-tech-desperate by dupper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Geeks. A personal organizer is no more a Tricorder than my interstellar spacecraft is the Enterprise.

  4. Uh, I can't really remember by dupper · · Score: 5, Insightful
    A tricorder doing a single one of those things, and I've seen every episode of Star Trek more times than is healthy. Tricorders are tools, not personal organizers and media players. They are universal, trekno-magically flexible sensing tools, that could be deus-ex-machina'ed by a stupid fucking Voyager writer to Van Eck what background applications you have running from three sectors away.

    They may have such functions as this PDA, but they'd be so far below the level of a tricorder's usual function that they wouldn't be worth mentioning, and, being tools for work, never be used as such.

  5. Sensationalize much? by Accipiter · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Jesus Christ, that's one of the stupidest headlines ever to appear on this site. First, it's spelled wrong. It's "Tricorder" and not "Tricoder."

    Secondly, these things are not anything even resembling the functions of a tricorder. I read the headline and was instantly thinking, "Wow, a handheld scanning tool. That should be cool." But no, I read on to find it's a stupid unmodified iPAQ. They don't do sensing, they don't take readings, and they don't scan anything. It's not a tricorder, and it's not ALMOST a tricorder. It's a goddamned PDA.

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  6. Re:hmmm by Rolo+Tomasi · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The iPAQs aren't radiation hardened either.

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  7. Biggest problem with PADDs by Stavr0 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Most PocketPC have their "My Documents" folder in main memory (volatile RAM). If an crewmember forgets to dock their PDA or a battery fails, they may lose all their documents. There is a secondary battery, but it's not perfect.

    Workarounds:
    1. Stock each PDA with a 1GB mem card
    2. Dock early and often (automatic backup on docking)!
    3. Wifi to the ISS servers.

    Finally an obligatory Trekkie comments: They're more like PADDs not Tricorders, you insensitive p'tahks!