On Tuesday, NASA’s Mission Control in Houston, Texas, faced a 90-minute power outage, resulting in a loss of communication with the International Space Station (ISS). The outage occurred at 8 a.m. local time, temporarily disconnecting the astronauts aboard the ISS from ground control.
However, the astronauts of Expedition 69 were not at risk as they swiftly activated backup power systems, re-establishing communication through Russian assets within 20 minutes of the incident. According to Joel Montalbano, NASA’s ISS program manager, they were able to communicate with the crew through Russian assets approximately 20 minutes after the failure, and within 90 minutes, full command, telemetry, and voice were restored to the ISS.
The power outage was caused by upgrades to the Johnson Space Center ground power system, resulting in an unexpected loss of telemetry, voice communication, and command. Montalbano explained that the upgrades were being done to enhance power system reliability, but it led to the temporary communication disruption with the ISS crew. Fortunately, the issue was limited to the ground and did not jeopardize the safety of the astronauts.
Notably, this was the first time since 2009, when the ISS became fully operational, that it experienced a loss of contact with ground control. NASA will thoroughly investigate the incident to understand the root cause and learn from it for future improvements.
The Expedition 69 crew members include NASA astronauts Frank Rubio, Woody Hoburg, and Stephen Bowen, Roscosmos cosmonauts Dmitri Petelin, Andrey Fedyaev, and Commander Sergey Prokopyev, along with UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi.
Despite the momentary communication problem, the International Space Station is nearing the end of its mission. NASA plans to bring the ISS back to Earth and deorbit it into the Pacific Ocean by 2031.
Also Read: Delhi Police Arrest Employee for Stabbing Jeweller Employer in Karol Bagh
