Astronauts are bringing computers to space—and IT troubles, too

The Artemis II mission now underway aims to send three Americans and one Canadian back to and around the moon, a journey that will mark humans’ farthest trek into space in decades. The program is one of a series of endeavors, including next-generation space stations, a lunar habitat, and even a manned Mars mission, that will vastly expand human presence in outer space. Critically, these missions are all certain to involve spacey versions of consumer technologies, which have now become a fixture of life in space. (Astronauts aboard the International Space Station use laptops and smartphones.) Yet such modern conveniences also create a host of IT issues. On the latest Artemis II mission, astronauts—again, also with smartphones—had to reach out to mission controllers experiencing issues on their systems. The culprit: Microsoft Outlook. Indeed, making computers work in space can be difficult. This includes issues related to the microgravity environment, as well as challenges related to com