The International Space Station lost communication with Mission Control Houston at 9:45 AM EST Tuesday. The loss occurred during the update of the command and control software of the station, while transitioning between the primary computer to the backup to complete the upgrade. Houston was able to reach the station when it passed over Russian ground stations every 90 minutes.
“This is the same way they used to do it in the 1960s, with Gemini and Apollo,” NASA spokesman Josh Byerly told CNN. “It’s not a panicked mood that takes over mission control. Anybody who’s been here has seen that.”
While the cause of the communication blackout is unknown, Information Week points to the new Tracking and Data Relay Satellite K (TDRS-K), launched last month. The TDRS-K is used to facilitate communication between the ISS and the ground, and lost contact with the station’s system while switching to the backup computer. This is the first upgrade for the TDRS-K since 2002.
Currently, there are two American astronauts, one Canadian astronaut and three Russian cosmonauts aboard the station.
The communication glitch was not without humor, though. Hours before, the Canadian astronaut, currently the only internet star in space, Chris Hadfield tweeted “Good Morning, Earth! Today we transition the Space Station’s main computers to a new software load. Nothing could possibly go wrong.” Later, but still before the communication glitch, he tweeted “As I transition the Space Station computers, I notice our Houston CAPCOM’s name is...Hal ! The irony, as life imitates art.”
Other than the communication loss, everything else is fine aboard the ISS. Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford said the station and the crew were fine. According to a NASA press release, communications were restored at 12:34 PM EST.
