How a power outage led NASA to rely on Russian backup systems

On July 25, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported in a blog post that due to a power outage, it lost contact with the International Space Station (ISS). The power outage occurred at the space agency’s mission control at the Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas, which resulted in disruptions in communication with a crew of seven astronauts aboard the ISS, forcing the space agency to turn to its backup control systems.

According to the blog, the loss of communication led to the loss of command, telemetry, and voice from the ground to the International Space Station. However, the astronaut crew was informed of the issue via Russian communication systems within 20 minutes of the outage. NASA said that “the issue was isolated to the ground, and flight controllers were able to talk to the crew onboard [the] station through Roscosmos channels, and at no point was the crew in any danger.”

Although such power outages are not uncommon, this is the first time that NASA had to resort to backup control systems. According to reports, the backup control systems kicked into effect to restore normal communications with the crew within 90 minutes of the power outage. NASA reportedly hopes to resolve the power issue within a day.

The seven astronauts onboard the ISS are part of NASA’s Exhibition 69 mission which began in March 2023. The Exhibition 69 mission is a long-duration mission which includes three cosmonauts. The mission aims to conduct research focused on biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.

According to NASA, Expedition 69 crew members “will conduct experiments studying how particular materials burn in microgravity to keep spacecraft safe, test a new tool for deep-space immune monitoring in orbit, continue work with 3D-cultured cardiac muscle tissue to
assess human cardiac function in microgravity, and test samples for microorganisms from
outside of the space station.”

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On July 25, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reported in a blog post that due to a power outage, it lost contact with the International Space Station (ISS). The power outage occurred at the space agency’s mission control at the Johnson Space Centre, Houston, Texas, which resulted in disruptions in communication with a crew of seven astronauts aboard the ISS, forcing the space agency to turn to its backup control systems.

According to the blog, the loss of communication led to the loss of command, telemetry, and voice from the ground to the International Space Station. However, the astronaut crew was informed of the issue via Russian communication systems within 20 minutes of the outage. NASA said that “the issue was isolated to the ground, and flight controllers were able to talk to the crew onboard [the] station through Roscosmos channels, and at no point was the crew in any danger.”

Although such power outages are not uncommon, this is the first time that NASA had to resort to backup control systems. According to reports, the backup control systems kicked into effect to restore normal communications with the crew within 90 minutes of the power outage. NASA reportedly hopes to resolve the power issue within a day.

The seven astronauts onboard the ISS are part of NASA’s Exhibition 69 mission which began in March 2023. The Exhibition 69 mission is a long-duration mission which includes three cosmonauts. The mission aims to conduct research focused on biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences, and technology development.

According to NASA, Expedition 69 crew members “will conduct experiments studying how particular materials burn in microgravity to keep spacecraft safe, test a new tool for deep-space immune monitoring in orbit, continue work with 3D-cultured cardiac muscle tissue to
assess human cardiac function in microgravity, and test samples for microorganisms from
outside of the space station.”

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end of article