NASA modded space station's laptops so everyone could use the same charger — standardizing ISS chargers eliminated useless weight and reduced failure points

NASA ensured that all laptops destined for use in the International Space Station (ISS) had the same power connector. Engineer George Roush, who has a certain fondness for space tech, recalled details of this laptop modification earlier this week. Standardizing on a single ‘cannon plug’ meant that instead of requiring a multitude of different chargers, ISS visitors could plug into the onboard DC power outlets in a standard fashion. Roush took the photos shared below during a visit to the NASA Stennis visitor center.

Laptops destined to be used on the ISS would have their modem ports removed and replaced by the cannon plug you can see in the engineer’s photos. Of course, modem ports would be useless on the ISS, so that’s why they would be replaced with this modification. In space, every gram, every connector, and every failure mode matters, which makes this power standardization a smart move.

Sources indicate that Lockheed Martin was contracted to make these modifications to the ThinkPads and other machines that ended up being taken to space. Roush also discusses networking/comms on the ISS, which relied on the MIL-STD-1553 system, rather than Ethernet.

Laptops with built-in telephony modem ports certainly date this story. However, we must remember that the ISS was constructed in the late 1990s when modems were still essential for PCs. The first crews docked in 2000.

Original web sources are vanishing

When refreshing his knowledge about this laptops-in-space mod, the space enthusiast and engineer was struck by another realization, which he found troubling. The NASA Stennis visitor center had barely any information about the laptops or the cannon plug modification that was on display.

Turning to some online resources he remembers referring to previously, Roush noticed a lot of them had disappeared. “The old internet is dying, and with it, we risk losing a lot of useful history,” said the engineer. “I fear that the false belief of the 'eternal' internet will cause otherwise recorded history to be lost when the servers shut down.”

Though some resources may still be able to be unearthed via the Wayback Machine, it seems perilous that so much web history is archived by a charity (The Internet Archive). In May, we reported that the internet is getting harder to archive because the AI boom has caused a storage crisis, with both NAND and mechanical drives facing shortages. This means skyrocketing storage bills to support the activities of the Wayback Machine.

HP replaced all the ISS laptops in April 2026

The astronauts in the ISS aren’t still using old modded laptops like the one showcased in the NASA Stennis visitor center. The latest updates came in April this year, with over 100 HP Z Workstations packing a mix of Core Ultra 9 processors and RTX Pro Blackwell graphics sent into orbit.

HP talks about putting these PCs through two years of rigorous testing ahead of deployment. We don’t get much in the way of technical info from its release, but again, it was recognized that a single power standard was important. The computer maker supplies universal AC/DC power adapters with its latest crop of space laptops that are specially designed to function on both the ISS and Earth.

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.