Microsoft's buggy apps reach deep space — "I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those is working," says Artemis II commander

The Artemis II crewed lunar mission lifts off from Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026. Four astronauts blasted off aboard a massive NASA rocket April 1 on a long-anticipated journey around the Moon, the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years. With an intense roar that reverberated far beyond the launchpad, the enormous orange-and-white rocket carried three Americans and one Canadian away from Florida's Kennedy Space Center at approximately 6:35 pm local time, according to an AFP journalist onsite. "We're going to the Moon!" yelled a spectator. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images).

They say in space no one can hear you scream. Apparently, they can't read your emails either — at least if you use Outlook.

NASA and the crew of the Artemis II are making history this month. The crewed rocket took off Wednesday, April 1, 2026, and is headed to orbit the Moon.

Artemis II is the first crewed mission of NASA's Artemis program and its journey will be the first to travel near the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Artemis II serves as a stress test for crewed NASA missions to the Moon. While the spacecraft will not land on the Moon, it will orbit the Moon and travel back to Earth.

Its launch experienced delays and some issues, such as the toilet breaking (it's since been fixed). Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are currently orbiting Earth while they perform tests.

Yes... In case anyone was wondering, Microsoft still sucks in space. pic.twitter.com/vf5b0lQgc7April 2, 2026

One hiccup came as a bit of a surprise, but not to those who rely on Outlook for work.

Wiseman sent a message to mission control on Thursday explaining issues with Microsoft Outlook.

"I also see that I have two Microsoft Outlooks and neither one of those is working," said the commander.

Wiseman's tablet is a Microsoft Surface Pro. Engadget looked through the Artemis II livestream but did not hear of a resolution to Wiseman's Outlook issue.

I checked DownDetector to see if there was an Outlook outage, but I could not find a version of DownDetector that covers space. The site supports dozens of countries, but the drop down menu lacks an option for Earth-to-Lunar orbit.

Microsoft has two versions of Outlook, the terrible "new" Outlook that's basically a web wrapper and Outlook "Classic." Neither worked for Wiseman.

NASA has several livestreams of the mission from different perspectives, giving viewers unique access to a mission of this kind.

If all goes to plan, we can all watch Artemis II orbit the Moon on Monday, April 6.

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