---
title: "International Space Station Suffers Comms Blackout Due to Power Outage"
description: "A power outage struck Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center, temporarily cutting off comss with the International Space Station."
date: "2023-07-26"
modified: "2023-07-26"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/international-space-station-comms-blackout-power-outage"
categories:
  - "International Space Station"
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "international space station"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# International Space Station Suffers Comms Blackout Due to Power Outage

![A power outage struck Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center, temporarily cutting off comss with the International Space Station.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/international-space-station-comms-blackout-power-outage.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Do You Copy?

A power outage struck Mission Control at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Tuesday, temporarily cutting off communications with the International Space Station.

NASA says that neither astronauts nor the station itself were ever in any danger, the [*Associated Press* reports](<https://apnews.com/article/space-station-communications-power-outage-nasa-2384eff2d2307fe3018d8194b13ae61a>).

Fortunately, despite plenty of political turmoil between the US and Russia, Roscosmos communication channels allowed ground teams to get in touch with crew members just 20 minutes into the outage.

## Ground Problem

Space station program manager Joel Montalbano told the *AP* that backup control systems took over within 90 minutes. Interestingly, it's the first time NASA has ever had to fire them up.

"It wasn’t an issue on board," he told reporters. "That was purely a ground problem."

The power outage coincided with ongoing work at the building at the Johnson Space Center, a likely cause for the disruption.

In other words, it ironically wasn't the decades-old space station, which has really started to [show its age](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-international-space-station-dangerous>) lately.

The space agency does also have an entirely separate backup control center miles from the Johnson Space Center in case of emergencies. But since the station still had enough power to keep the lights on, NASA stayed at Mission Control.

"We'll better understand what happened and then take lessons learned and move forward," said Montalbano.

**More on the ISS:** *[Cosmonauts Litter Orbit With Entire Science Experiment During Spacewalk](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/cosmonauts-litter-experiment-iss>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)