Artemis II livestream catches astronaut reporting broken Outlook
NASA’s Artemis II livestream delivered a small reminder that astronauts are still using the same office software as everyone else on Earth. During the mission, one of the crew reported spotting two Microsoft Outlook instances on a computer, and said neither of them was working.
According to the exchange heard on the livestream, Commander Reid Wiseman called down to Houston and said he could see “ two Microsoft Outlooks, ” with both failing to respond. Mission Control then offered to remote in and take a look. Even on a Moon mission, the standard first step still appears to be IT support.
NASA’s mission to orbit the Moon is being interrupted by Outlook (New) and Outlook (classic) both refusing to open 😂 pic.twitter.com/aiakIfARYO
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) April 2, 2026
About an hour later, Houston reported that Outlook was back up. There was a catch, though. It would still show as offline, which Mission Control said was expected. So the fix was basically: yes, it works, but it still looks broken.
Orion’s flight systems do not depend on consumer apps, but astronauts still use commercial off-the-shelf software for routine tasks like schedules, notes, and personal communications. That means Windows and Outlook can make it all the way into deep space, along with the same quirks they have on the ground.
NASA appears to have resolved an issue with the spacecraft’s toilet system after a urine extraction fan reportedly jammed earlier in the mission. I’m no expert, but I just hope this does not involve Noctua brown fans.
Source: Tom Warren , Tom’s hardware
