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

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

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Since you all care (thank you for that, by the way) here's the answer: That's not an ethernet port at all! It's a modem port! Modem ports are useless on the ISS. So, NASA replaced this useless port with a new power port. Taking 9 different laptop chargers into space sounds… pic.twitter.com/ZLcqcEOHVf August 2, 2026

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.

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.

NASA partners with Microchip to build next-generation spaceflight chips with 100x the power of current offerings

We tested 20 wall chargers, from cheap to expensive, to find the best

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