NASA replaced built-in modems in laptops destined for the International Space Station with a standard power connector, a technology publication reported.
The standard round connector let computers plug directly into the station’s DC power supply. Separate chargers, cables and adapters were no longer needed for each model.
Engineer and space-technology enthusiast George Roush drew attention to the modification. He examined one of the computers at a NASA visitor centre and published photographs of it.
The new connector occupied the telephone modem’s space because the modem was not needed in orbit. Published historical accounts say Lockheed Martin modified ThinkPads and some other computers under contract.
The laptops date from the ISS’s early years: station assembly began in the late 1990s, and the first long-duration crew arrived in 2000.
