The Ultimate Remote Desktop Session
On the first day of the 10-day mission, Commander Reid Wiseman found himself facing a classic digital headache. His personal computing device—a Microsoft Surface Pro—was acting up. Specifically, Microsoft Outlook had opened two separate instances of itself, and neither was responding.
Wiseman reached out to Mission Control in Houston, not for orbital calculations, but for tech support. The ground team successfully remoted into the device to clear the software conflict and fix an issue with the “Optimus” software. While the email client remained “offline”—a standard state for a computer hurtling through the void—the glitch was resolved.
Troubleshooting in Zero-G
Software wasn’t the only thing breaking down. Shortly after launch, the crew reported that the toilet fan had jammed. In the cramped quarters of a spacecraft, a functioning waste management system is a matter of both comfort and safety.
While the crew had access to “backup waste management capabilities,” ground teams quickly drafted repair instructions. According to reports from Space.com, the astronauts were able to access the fan assembly and clear the area, successfully reviving the system.
