During NASA’s Artemis II mission to the Moon, commander Reid Wiseman encountered a familiar Earthly problem: Microsoft Outlook wasn’t working on his personal computing device (PCD). In a livestream, he reported seeing two non-functional versions of the email client. Mission Control quickly stepped in and resolved the issue by reloading his files on the Microsoft Surface Pro.
“This is not uncommon,” said Artemis flight director Judd Frieling. “We have these issues all the time. Outlook sometimes has trouble getting configured, especially when you don’t have a direct network connection.”
NASA relies on its Near Space Network and Deep Space Network to communicate with the spacecraft, using a mix of antennas around the world and satellites in orbit as Artemis II travels further from Earth. The crew’s gear includes Nikon D5 DSLR cameras for filming content for a Disney / National Geographic documentary and handheld GoPro cameras.
The astronauts were also allowed to bring their phones with them, which can even be seen being stowed away in their spacesuit pockets during NASA’s livestream.
