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hubie [soylentnews.org] writes:

In space no one can hear you scream   .    .    .     at Microsoft [theregister.com]:

Many a frustrated user has sworn they'll launch Microsoft Outlook into space, but NASA has actually done it – on a journey around the Moon, where it's now causing problems for astronauts.

The astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft currently circling the Earth [theregister.com] are taking care of a bunch of housekeeping tasks, including getting their devices working. Judging by some space-to-ground communications with controllers at Houston, it isn't going well.

NASA has helpfully provided a YouTube channel [youtube.com] showing live views from the Orion spacecraft, as well as snippets of communication. During this stream, one of the astronauts can be heard first asking for help with network connectivity (IT support staff will be delighted to know that one troubleshooting step involves turning the device off and on) before telling controllers, "I have two Microsoft Outlooks, and neither one of those are working."

Multiple Outlooks is something that is all too familiar to many Windows users. A year ago, the acceptable face of development at Microsoft, Scott Hanselman, parodied the situation [theregister.com] by listing some tongue-in-cheek variants to go with Outlook (Classic) and Outlook (New). How about Outlook (Zero Sugar), Outlook (Caffeine Free), and so on? The Orion 'nauts could well be looking at Outlook (Deep Space), Outlook (Low Earth Orbit), or even Outlook (Tentacle Edition).

And, for at least one of the four Artemis II crew members, none of the Outlooks is working.

Even if you go 384,000 km away, you still can't get away from your email.

Original Submission