'Blue screen of...': Memes explode after Artemis II astronauts face a Microsoft Outlook problem in space

Turns out, even a NASA mission isn't immune to Microsoft problems. Astronauts on Artemis II faced a problem with the email platform Outlook, triggering a meme fest. Seven hours after launch, Reid Wiseman, the mission’s commander, reported the problem with the email app to the Houston-based mission control. According to the message, there were "two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those are working". He asked them "to remote in and check the Optimus and those two Outlooks." Mission control told Wiseman that they would join through the shuttle’s personal computing device, the specialised tablets on board the capsule, to fix the problem. It is not known whether the problem was fixed or is still ongoing. According to Engadget, Wiseman has a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and the Artemis II livestream hasn't shown a resolution to the Outlook issue yet. The astronauts had the Outlook (New) and Outlook (Classic) apps installed, but neither of them opened.

Microsoft Outlook malfunctioning in space has left people rolling their eyeballs and laughing at a problem they are all too familiar with on Earth. Earlier, the astronauts faced a problem with the toilet, which had to be affixed manually after the launch. The NASA livestream also showed Wiseman punching in his PIN on the tablet, exposing a security detail that was caught by eagle-eyed netizens. The string of gaffes and troubles soon after launch has left people rolling with laughter. Talking about the Microsoft problem, a user posted a clip from the comedy series Space Force where engineers can be seen battling a Microsoft update problem. The spacecraft is about to loop back in 11 minutes, and just then, the system decided to auto-update and will take 45 minutes, the clip from the series shows. The clip was captioned, "No freaking way microsoft recreate this in real life. WILD."

Watch the clip here

Another user compared going to space with working from home. "First the toilet breaks and now their email isnt opening. going to the moon is a functionally identical experience to working from home," the person wrote. Another commented, "We are all just like NASA with the same problems, lol. Why there were ever 2 Outlooks still perplexes me."

One comment read, "Hilarious that they went with outlook. Hope their other design decisions were better considered." Another hilarious comment read, "Outlook's like that one friend who always cancels plans right at the last minute."