On the night of Wednesday April 1 to Thursday April 2, the launch of the Artémis II mission captivated the attention of the entire world. For good reason, this is the first lunar mission in more than 50 years and that of the Apollo program.
If the launch went off without a problem, it was once after leaving Earth that the crew reported a technical problem, unexpected to say the least.
Forget engine failures, fuel leaks or even failed stage separation. The problem came from a problem accessing mission commander Reid Wiseman’s email.
A problem with messaging… and toiletries
“I also notice that I have two instances of Microsoft Outlook, and neither is working. If you could log in remotely and check Optimus and these two instances of Outlook, that would be great,”declared the commander during an exchange with technical assistance from the NASA control center broadcast live.
The control center took remote possession of the device, a PCD (Personal Crew Device), a personal computing device of the crew, used for various tasks such as checking their calendar, maintaining their private exchanges, or even ensuring the organization of their daily activities.
As part of the Artémis II mission, it is a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet. An hour later, a member of the control center indicated that the problem had been resolved, and that the system would appear offline, as expected.
In addition to this messaging problem, the crew had to face another problem. Indeed, a toilet exhaust fan blocked, and those on board had to resolve the situation manually.
This ventilation system integrated into the rocket toilet allows odors and particles to be evacuated from the sanitary space.
With the absence of gravity, liquids and gases do not flow naturally. The fan will therefore create suction which replaces gravity to direct the waste in the right direction.
