Astronaut send world's first tweets from space

Mission specialist Massimino, who tweets under the name Astro_Mike, has already sent three tweets from space.

With no mobile phone coverage in orbit he is using the space shuttle Atlantis’ radio link to Johnson Space Centre in Houston, which posts up his messages.

“From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!” his first tweet reads.

Massimino has been sending tweets since April and currently has 273,676 followers. He is currently spacewalking to the Hubble telescope where the shuttle is installing new hardware.

NASA is planning on using the Twitter service more often as a way of drawing attention to its work.

The captain of the next shuttle mission Mark Polansky has already signed up as Astro_127 and the agency is encouraging people to send him questions on Twitter.