
STS-53 Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, Department of Defense (DOD) mission Hand-held Earth-oriented Real-time Cooperative, User-friendly, Location, targeting, and Environmental System (Hercules) spaceborne experiment equipment is documented in this table top view. HERCULES is a joint NAVY-NASA-ARMY payload designed to provide real-time high resolution digital electronic imagery and geolocation (latitude and longitude determination) of earth surface targets of interest. HERCULES system consists of (from left to right): a specially modified GRID Systems portable computer mounted atop NASA developed Playback-Downlink Unit (PDU) and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed HERCULES Attitude Processor (HAP); the NASA-developed Electronic Still Camera (ESC) Electronics Box (ESCEB) including removable imagery data storage disks and various connecting cables; the ESC (a NASA modified Nikon F-4 camera) mounted atop the NRL HERCULES Inertial Measurement Unit (HIMU) containing the three-axis ring-laser gyro.

STS058-14-006 (18 Oct- 1 Nov 1993) --- Astronaut Richard A. Searfoss, pilot, participates in an experiment that measures the effects of space flight on pilot proficiency. Astronauts Searfoss (seen here at the pilot's station) and John E. Blaha, mission commander, are conducting the first tests of the Portable Inflight Landing Operations Trainer (PILOT). STS-58 is the first of six scheduled test flights of PILOT designed to determine its effectiveness as a training tool.

STS064-311-031 (10 Sept. 1994) --- Astronaut Mark C. Lee, STS-64 mission specialist, at a Payload General Support Computer (PGSC) on the space shuttle Discovery's flight deck, talks to ground controllers about the Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX). Astronaut L. Blaine Hammond, pilot, is partially visible in the background. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

STS060-21-031 (3-11 Feb 1994) --- Using a lap top computer, astronaut N. Jan Davis monitors systems for the Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG) experiment onboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Davis joined four other NASA astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut for eight days in space aboard Discovery.

STS-41 Mission Specialist (MS) William M. Shepherd uses Detailed Test Objective (DTO) Space Station Cursor Control Device Evaluation MACINTOSH portable computer on the middeck of Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103. The computer is velcroed to forward lockers MF71C and MF71E. Surrounding Shepherd are checklists, the field sequential (FS) crew cabin camera, and a lighting fixture.

STS041-01-002 (6-10 Oct 1990) --- Astronaut Richard N. Richards, STS 41 mission commander, "borrows" the pilot's station to utilize a Shuttle portable onboard computer during the four-day flight. The photo was made with a 35mm camera.

STS030-02-018 (4-8 May 1989) --- A 35mm overall scene of the operations devoted to the fluids experiment apparatus (FEA) aboard Atlantis for NASA’s STS-30 mission. Astronaut Mary L. Cleave, mission specialist, is seen with the computer which is instrumental in the carrying out of a variety of materials science experiments. Rockwell International is engaged in a joint endeavor agreement with NASA’s Office of Commercial Programs in the field of floating zone crystal growth and purification research. The March 1987 agreement provides for microgravity experiments to be performed in the company’s Microgravity Laboratory, the FEA. An 8 mm camcorder which documented details inside the apparatus is visible at bottom of the frame.