Twitter knows no bounds - space is the limit

Twitter is proving to become an ever increasingly powerful tool of communication, even in space.

NASA astronaut T.J. Creamer, on board the International Space Station (ISS), became the first person to ever send a message from space to the world, via Twitter.

Creamer, under his Twitter username @Astro_TJ, tweeted, Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station--the 1st live tweet from Space! :) More soon, send your ?s.

This is not the first time that NASA astronauts posted updates on Twitter, but the messages first had to be relayed to Mission Control. However, residents of the ISS can now post directly to the micro-blogging site thanks to a new, direct Internet connection.

The astronauts on the ISS have connected to the Web through Crew Support LAN, which significantly enhances the private communication access that astronauts have while floating above the Earth.

The system is not just for sending tweets though, astronauts will be able to use email, VoIP, and (with some limitations) use videoconferencing systems.