NASA’s Artemis II mission made history on April 1, 2026, sending a crew around the moon for the first time in half a century. The space agency has put roughly a billion dollars into the lunar programme. The Orion spacecraft lifted off successfully, carrying its crew on a 10-day journey around the moon. But within hours of launch, the mission ran into a problem that felt oddly familiar — the kind most office workers have dealt with at their desk. The crew lost the ability to send emails through Microsoft Outlook.

Commander Reid Wiseman flagged the issue:

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman flagged the issue shortly after launch, reporting that Outlook had stopped working on the shuttle’s personal computing devices. The problem disrupted support services that the crew relies on during the mission. 

He reached out to mission control in Houston, asking ground teams to step in remotely and help resolve the Outlook issue.

“I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those are working,” Wiseman could be heard saying over dispatch. “If you want to remote in and check the Optimus and those two Outlooks that would be awesome,” he added.

NASA resolved the issue remotely:

The Verge reports that NASA resolved the issues by remotely accessing the commander’s device. Further, NASA’s control informed the crew, “We were able to resolve the issue for Optimus, and for Outlook, we were able to get it open. It will show offline, which is expected.”

Social media users had a field day creating memes about the incident. After all, most people have experienced frustrating tech glitches precisely when they needed apps like Outlook the most.

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Toilet fan jammed on the spacecraft

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The four-member Artemis II crew — three Americans and one Canadian — have run into a string of technical problems since leaving Earth. The latest involves the spacecraft’s advanced lunar toilet, where the fan has jammed and knocked the unit out of service.

NASA spokesperson Gary Jordan flagged the issue during live mission commentary. Ground teams are now putting together step-by-step instructions for the crew on how to access the fan, clear the blockage, and get the toilet back up and running.