NASA’s Original Laptop: The GRiD Compass

The year 1982 was a notable one in personal computing. The BBC Micro was introduced in the United Kingdom, as was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. The Commodore 64 came to market in the United States. And then there was the GRiD Compass.

The GRiD Compass Was the First Laptop to Feature a Clamshell Design. Rugged and well-designed, it was the first clamshell laptop to fly on NASA‘s space shuttle.

The Graphical Retrieval Information Display (GRiD) Compass had a unique clamshell design, in which the monitor folded down over the keyboard. Its 21.6-centimer plasma screen could display 25 lines of up to 128 characters in a high-contrast amber that the company claimed could be “viewed from any angle and under any lighting conditions.” Read more >

Grid Systems Corp. 1979 Vintage Men’s T-Shirt