国际空间站的一名美国宇航员上周五从太空发送了首条“推特”消息，这是国际空间站内首次实现即时上网。以往，宇航员一般都是将此类信息通过电子邮件形式传回休斯顿的太空控制中心。现在，国际空间站上的人员可以使用空间站的笔记本电脑实时上网了。美国国家航空和宇宙航行局发言表示，长时间在太空作业的宇航员，由于远离家人和朋友，他们相当的孤独，我们希望太空互联网服务可以鼓舞其士气，提高工作效率。不过，远在太空的宇航员同样要遵守与政府公务员一样的互联网使用纪律，即不能影响正常工作。

In a high-tech first, astronauts in space finally have Internet access, and on Friday they sent a tweet directly from the heavens.

In a high-tech first, astronauts in space finally have Internet access, and on Friday they sent a tweet directly from the heavens.

Space station resident Timothy Creamer had been working with flight controllers to establish Internet access from his orbital post ever since he moved in last month.

"Hello Twitterverse!" he wrote as Astro(underscore)TJ. "We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station -- the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s"

Before, orbiting astronauts had to send Twitter updates by e-mail to Mission Control in Houston. Then controllers posted the tweets.

The International Space Station crew can now use an on-board laptop to reach a desktop computer at Mission Control, and thereby browse the Web. This remote Internet access is possible whenever there is a solid high-speed communication link.

It's expected to provide a big morale boost.

"Long-duration astronauts, they commit to spending months away from family and friends. It's a pretty unique state of isolation," said NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries. "We expect this to enhance morale and productivity."

The astronauts will be subject to the same Internet access guidelines as other on-the-job government employees--namely, no interfering with work.

Is NASA worried the astronauts might spend too much time online, more than 200 miles up?

"These are highly driven individuals," Humphries said with a chuckle, "so they're going to get their work done first."

The astronauts already had an Internet Protocol phone for private calls to family and friends.

Creamer is one month into a five-month mission. He is sharing the space station with another American, one Japanese and two Russians.

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(Agencies)

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）