# What Operating System does the Space Station use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440 "2009-07-18T15:18:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/21 "2009-07-19T18:15:02Z")
This may be a really dumb question, but can astronauts on the ISS get on the internet in any way? Maybe by satellite? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/22 "2009-07-19T20:10:54Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Was somebody’s tongue in their cheek when they named or selected that designation? “If it’s HAL, it’s \*got \* to be good!” HAL/s is named after Dr. J. Halcombe Laning, who contributed greatly to its concept and implementation. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/23 "2009-07-19T20:16:38Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This may be a really dumb question, but can astronauts on the ISS get on the internet in any way? Maybe by satellite? Actually, they are experimenting with it. Satellites are aimed towards earth so they don’t beam any sort of signal out towards the ISS. NASA is experimenting with delay tolerant networks, allowing the ISS to have some limited access to the internet. The main purpose of this is to create communication networks that can be used in space. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/24 "2009-07-19T20:26:53Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > I seem to remember hearing a store about a virus getting on the ISS computer systems which would make me think that at least part of their system runes on windows. The OP had a link to that story. Those are computers for the people on board to use, nothing that runs the station. > [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > This may be a really dumb question, but can astronauts on the ISS get on the internet in any way? Maybe by satellite? Not according to [this](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/08/virus-infects-s/), which is also about the viruses from above, but they are testing DTN (disruption tolerant networking) and some of the stories on the DTN claim the astronauts will be using it for live internet access. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/25 "2009-07-20T02:20:19Z")
Well, the US Navy did tests using networked Windows NT systems on board the [USS Yorktown](http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/1998/07/13987)to reduce manpower requirements. Anyone who has seen BattleStar Galactica can guess what happened. Never could find out if they fixed it or dropped that particular idea entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440/26 "2009-07-20T02:53:32Z")
We’ve established that many equipment manufacturers write their own code in order to ensure reliability. Can anyone cite a critical application that runs an Apple OS ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-operating-system-does-the-space-station-use/503440.md?page=1)