During the Artemis II mission, astronauts discovered that some Earth problems travel with you, including Outlook issues. While orbiting and preparing for their journey around the Moon, the crew ran into a very modern problem: an email wasn’t working.
The mission is being run by NASA and represents the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo 17 era in the 1970s. Artemis II won’t land on the Moon, but it will fly around it and return to Earth, testing systems for future lunar landings.
Somewhere between rocket launches, orbital tests, and preparing for deep space travel, Commander Reid Wiseman noticed something strange on his tablet. Outlook wasn’t working. Not just one version, but two versions installed on the same device, and neither would open properly.
The device in question was a Microsoft Surface Pro, which makes the situation even more ironic.
It’s a strange reminder that modern space missions are not just rockets and space suits anymore, they’re also laptops, tablets, software, cloud services, and yes, email clients. Spacecraft today are basically flying networks and computers with engines attached.
The Artemis II mission itself has already had a few minor issues and delays, which is normal for such a complex mission. The crew is currently testing systems before heading toward the Moon, and if everything goes according to plan, the spacecraft will perform a lunar flyby and return to Earth.
But out of all the technical challenges of space travel, it’s somehow fitting that one of the most relatable problems so far has been Outlook not working. Some problems really are universal, even hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth.