Sometimes, in these dog days of August, technology news comes to a groggy crawl as even vendors seem to realize that our brains are too humid to care much about the latest and greatest innovation. Our brains are bloated by the heat and we crave a few minutes to think about nothing except how quiet the house will be once we can turn the air conditioners off.
We scroll through weird news items, check out sites we bypassed in the rush of deadlines, and look for the rare gold nuggets of good things — and sometimes we strike it rich.
An AP news report over the weekend noted how space travel is getting rich in pop culture these days, and surprise, surprise, social networking technologies are part of what’s packed aboard the space shuttle Discovery as it heads to the international space station this week.
It seems two of the crew’s astronauts, Mexican-American Jose Hernandez and Swede Christer Fuglesang, will be tweeting all about their trip in English, Spanish and Swedish.
How sweet is that? Here is the direct link to follow Hernandez, and the one to track Fuglesang. Here’s a link to follow all the astronauts.
It’s pretty interesting to read what’s on their minds, the prep work and issues before the trip and which ones like the Dodgers (astronaut Mike Massimo).
This, I believe, is exactly what social networking tools can bring into our lives. The amazing opportunity to learn and share an experience that only those working for NASA once had.
Photo courtesy of NASA/Troy Cryder