Last week, I wrote about the first email sent from space, and how there was a discrepancy in what date has been reported for the event:
So where’s the mystery in all of this? Well, according to NASA, Apple, and Guinness Book of World Records this message was sent on August 9, 1991. STS-43 took place from August 2 to 11 that year, so I feel confident the date the message was sent is indeed August 9.
Despite this, I’ve seen it reported several times that August 28, 1991 is the date in question, including the Computer History Museum. I suspect this is the source often used, leading to the wrong date being published in multiple other places. I’ve contacted the museum with my research and will update this post if they get back to me with clarification.
I am happy to report that the Computer History Museum responded to my email containing my research, and have updated their entry for this event to reflect the correct date: August 9, 1991.
This is the power of investigative journalism, I suppose.