Wednesday April 8, 2026 | OFF-PLANET [9:20 pm PT]
by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends
During the Artemis II mission that set into space beyond the Earth on April 1 there has been a lot of tech talk about communications devices that people use here on Earth.
Computers, iPhones and Outlook for email have come up in tech chat between the crew and mission control in Houston throughout the journey.
Many of the same sort of tech challenges and glitches happen as we experience on Earth in our homes and businesses. But for Artemis II crew astronauts it’s happening in a confined and much more challenging space.
Each of the four astronauts has their own laptop computer, but shortly into the mission one of them became non-operational. So only three computers have been used for the rest of the trip — highlighting the importance of interpersonal communication and cooperation.
The astronaut’s iPhones are being used on board. While they are functioning in pretty much every other way, the upload of photos from the iPhones seems to be taking many hours, as Hansen reporting to mission control today.
Email glitches with Microsoft Outlook happened starting on Day 1. One of the problems was email messages not initially loading because the software didn’t recognize a new network.
A 20-minute clean-up power cycle on one of the personal computing devices was needed this evening by mission control, involving a re-synching of email; during that time the computer cannot be used by the astronauts.
Photo-taking:
The crew has also been eagerly engaged in taking photos of what they’re seeing out the windows of their spacecraft: earth, moon, sun and stars.
This evening there was tech talk about how perhaps when the camera flash goes off that it somehow triggers the on board smoke alarm a bit. This is the second time that mission control asked if the crew had bumped into the smoke detector on board.
Batteries:
There was some chatter about batteries running out sooner than they would be expected to. Including some triple-AA batteries in one of the cameras — just like we would use here on Earth.
Fans:
The Artemis II crew like a cabin temperature of about 73°F while sleeping. Again tonight mission control double-checked with the crew as to their preference about fan speed as relates to cooling of the cabin.
Tonight (at 9:37 pm PT) the cabin temperature was 75.8°F just ahead of upcoming sleep time.
Canadian chat & another NASA press conference:
The astronauts held a public affairs event live with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Industry Minister Mélanie Joly this evening through the Canadian Space Agency, and then news media had a chance for another NASA press conference later this evening (including dial-in for remote media.
10-day mission:
This is now Day 8 of a 10-day mission. Splashdown is scheduled for 5:07 pm PT on Friday… the capsule will drop into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast off San Diego.
There are four astronauts on the mission: Commander Reid Wiseman; Pilot Victor Glover; Mission Specialist Christina Koch; and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. Hansen is the only Canadian on board. While on board he was officially welcomed into the Association of Space Explorers.
===== RELATED:
- Artemis II crew wakes up Day 8 to ‘Under Pressure’ (April 8, 2026)
- Artemis II: Day 6 takes Orion behind the Moon (April 6, 2026)
- Artemis II: Day 5 tech talk and Easter messages (April 5, 2026)
- Hansen chats with Canadian youth in Sunday morning livestream (April 5, 2026)
- Artemis II from Earth to Moon and back: Day 4 update (April 4, 2026)
- Artemis II crew: burning smell so far not of concern (April 4, 2026)
- Artemis II: Day 3 meals & tech work (April 3, 2026)
- Artemis II: Col Jeremy Hansen says “It was a great burn!” (April 2, 2026)
- Day 2 technology details for Artemis II crew (April 2, 2026)
- Artemis II: troubleshooting some technical things (April 2, 2026)
- Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen heads to the moon (April 1, 2026)
- Artemis Mission Updates (NASA)
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