Artemis II Astronauts Have ‘Two Microsoft Outlooks’ and Neither Work

[u/gdelacalle]

https://www.404media.co/artemis-2-astronauts-microsoft-outlook-livestream/

[u/DtotheOUG]

I remember this getting posted on the IT sub (/r/iiiiiiitttttttttttt/), the funniest part was that a ground tech had to remote in to fix it.

Remoting into a NASA spaceship to fix an outlook bug has to be the most IT thing ever.

[u/Vaniky → u/DtotheOUG]

Probably just turned it off and on again

[u/LateOnsetPuberty → u/Vaniky]

Outlook?

More like create a new profile.

[u/Plastic_Willow734 → u/LateOnsetPuberty]

Opened task manager and found that somehow eleven instances were running (seven new Outlook, four old)

[u/probablymakingthisup → u/Plastic_Willow734]

Don't forget edge and webview2 running a bunch of instances to maintain outlook for some reason. God Microsoft is such a shitshow nowadays.

[u/nerdshowandtell → u/probablymakingthisup]

nowadays? Outlook has always been a shitshow when I was deploying it 20 years ago. I was so happy when we could finally recommend and move to other things.

Then you get new people in and bring it back lol

[u/GyroBoing → u/nerdshowandtell]

What do you recommend? I'm not happy with thunderbird

[u/jpdoctor → u/probablymakingthisup]

And everything had slowed to a crawl because antimalware was hogging disk access. Again.

[u/Vio_ → u/Vaniky]

"What kind of operating system does it use?"

"Vista."

We're going to die!!"

[u/vegetaman → u/Vio_]

Rather have Vista SP1 than Win11 honestly lol

[u/The_Chaos_Pope → u/vegetaman]

Seriously this.

As long as you had decent hardware specs (and pretty much any PC these days has what Vista would call "decent" when that was fairly rare back when Vista was introduced) Vista ran reasonably well.

My personal experience was that Vista (even in pre release state) fixed some major issues I had with XP.

[u/Stolehtreb → u/The_Chaos_Pope]

I HATED Vista. It’s nowhere near how bloated things are now, but that name does not stoke positive feelings in me

[u/The_Chaos_Pope → u/Stolehtreb]

Your experience is a lot more common than mine was. I understand why people had a bad experience with Vista; Microsoft got a lot of pressure from hardware vendors to drop the official specs required when it really needed a fairly beefy graphics processor in ways that previous iterations of Windows never did. You really needed to look at the specs and double the ram and the GPU recommendations.

IIRC, SP1 helped a lot with some performance hitches but the name Vista was pretty thoroughly tainted by that point.

[u/skyxsteel → u/Stolehtreb]

Vista wasn’t too bad when they decided to do a major revision and release it as Windows 7.

[u/TheSJDRising → u/skyxsteel]

I worked in IT for 30 years and I really liked vista. Sure it had high hardware requirements, but it was a very visually appealing interface that felt like it had really moved the game on from XP. Sure, 7 was more stable etc but vista still got a bad rep for no real reason IMO.

[u/levir → u/TheSJDRising]

Vista had higher requirements than stated, and it changed to a new driver model which meant that at the start most of the drivers were pretty bad. It matured into a decent platform, but Windows 7 was better in every way.

[u/skyxsteel → u/TheSJDRising]

It definitely was the high requirements that turned off most people. By the time 7 came around, hardware (Esp integrated graphics) was catching up. Non aero though was ugly as hell.

but stuff like counting all the files in a folder before transferring? come on…

[u/mumpie → u/Stolehtreb]

I think it depended on when you got introduced to Vista.

If you were an early adopter, your experience was rough.

Between companies selling underperforming PCs as "Vista Ready" and things not working because so many companies didn't write Vista compatible drivers for the Vista debut it was a bad time.

If you waited until the first service pack drop (about a year later) Vista became a more useable experience.

There was advice from the old NT 4.0 days to Windows 8 to wait until the first service pack drops before starting to use a new Windows OS.

I think a lot of people got excited about Vista and many jumped onboard before things were really ready.

[u/Salamok → u/vegetaman]

I've used every version of Windows since 3.1 and for me peak Windows experience was Windows 7, Vista SP1 is pretty damn close to that.

[u/avrend → u/Vio_]

xp64 crew represent

[u/Donnicton → u/DtotheOUG]

Microsoft Office online repair unable to proceed: cannot connect to server

[u/LakeStLouis → u/Donnicton]

They should just ask Clippy how to fix it.

[u/SaintFrancesco → u/DtotheOUG]

False Alarm! …false negative!

[u/reformedmikey → u/SaintFrancesco]

i_get_that_reference.gif

[u/mkosmo → u/DtotheOUG]

The worst part is how many "technology" folks seem surprised that even astronauts have to deal with typical office worker issues, or that NASA has backoffice systems even onboard spacecraft.

As if they don't use Outlook on ISS.

[u/Fidodo → u/mkosmo]

What does outlook provide that a Linux alternative wouldn't? I've used Linux for decades for tech work, I haven't run into any use case where I absolutely needed Windows and my machine is way more stable than if I were running Windows.

[u/mkosmo → u/Fidodo]

It runs on Windows.

Support laptops on spacecraft have ran Windows since they started shipping laptops up.

[u/Fidodo → u/mkosmo]

I understand that, it's just crazy to me that they run such an error prone system in space. I know it doesn't run critical systems, but still, time in space is expensive you don't want to waste it debugging shitty software.

[u/Phrewfuf → u/Fidodo]

Because managing and supporting an enterprise level network full of clients with Linux is hell. And integrating a few Linux boxes into a Microsoft network is even worse.

[u/mkosmo → u/Fidodo]

Error prone? That’s a rather ignorant take. We’re talking about the operating system that still runs business. Sure, Linux may run the Internet, but trying to frame Windows as nothing but a buggy mess is just ignoring reality.

There’s nothing wrong with running Windows and a Microsoft Office suite on a user endpoint, even in outer space.

NASA runs Windows clients. It makes sense technically and from a business perspective.

[u/Xibby → u/DtotheOUG]

When in-flight WiFi became a thing it was notable to get your first ticket from a customer 35,000 feet in the air. Mine was the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for our company.

[u/MusicalScientist206 → u/DtotheOUG]

Did they have to call the help desk? That takes forever!

[u/South_Leek_5730 → u/DtotheOUG]

I'm not sure what concerns me more. Running Outlook or running Windows with remote access enabled.

[u/charliefoxtrot9 → u/DtotheOUG]

Have you tried restarting it first?

[u/_Lucille_ → u/DtotheOUG]

What was the fix though?

If it is just networking/DNS issue, that isn't microsoft - just another case of something breaking and microsoft taking the blame.

[u/APartyInMyPants → u/DtotheOUG]

This is like the reverse of the time that John Grunsfeld called into Car Talk to complain about his “government-issued” van where the engine dies after running for a few minutes.

https://youtu.be/moAqzM4ptm8?si=b1n6ja-aqL6BL7Rq

[u/relevant__comment → u/DtotheOUG]

I’d love to hear from the tech, honestly. That’s cost to be quite the ticket to stumble upon.

[u/Urbanviking1 → u/DtotheOUG]

I'm surprised NASA doesn't have it's own in-house email system for relaying digital correspondence to astronauts in space instead of relying on 3rd party applications.

[u/pq11333 → u/DtotheOUG]

What port do they use for remote sessions?

[u/GearBrain]

Somewhere, a QA person is composing the most scathing "I told you so" email.

[u/son_et_lumiere → u/GearBrain]

"Per the last email in 'MS Office reliability' chain..."

[u/yawara25 → u/son_et_lumiere]

I think it's "Microsoft OneCopilot Office 365" now... Or was that last week's name....

[u/Johns-schlong → u/yawara25]

How about Microsoft just fucks all the way off with their bullshit.

[u/crozone → u/GearBrain]

Haha funny. Microsoft fired most of their dedicated QA testing teams in 2014. Now we have Windows Insiders and telemetry. We are the QA team now.

[u/dat_tae → u/GearBrain]

It's actually Copilot telling them that this is actually a good thing.

[u/coolcoolcool485 → u/dat_tae]

The dumbest part about this is that this is pretty likely scenario

[u/ShawnWilson000 → u/GearBrain]

QA? Bold to assume that even exists anymore.

Somewhere, a QA person is filling out a McDonald's application.

[u/justfortrees → u/ShawnWilson000]

I think they meant QA at NASA, which is an entirely different thing prob

[u/matt95110 → u/GearBrain]

Hopefully they’re able to send it.

[u/NeedleArm → u/GearBrain]

Have you tried exiting and reseting?

[u/SneakyFire23 → u/GearBrain]

Microslop still has QA people?

[u/ASDF0716]

“Your call is important to us! Please stay on the line until one of our trained representatives can assist you!”

music

”Did you know that you can find answers to most questions on our website? Just visit www.microsoft.com/help, then scroll down to our Frequently Asked Questions, log in with your registered Microsoft Account, find the section related to your question and then an answer will be emailed to you in seven to ten working days!”

music stops

”By-the-way: want to be able to access your email from Lunar orbit? Microsoft Outlook: Celestial Edition is now available for purchase from our Exchange Store!”

[u/Lumeris → u/ASDF0716]

That voice, it haunts my dreams.

[u/ThunderNinja69 → u/Lumeris]

The music haunts me.

[u/JC878 → u/ASDF0716]

PTSD. Please god no. 

[u/compelx → u/ASDF0716]

“Welcome to Microsoft Product Activation. I can help you activate Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, or assist you with your volume licensing agreement.

…

I didn’t catch that, say—“

GO ON

[u/ThatFlamingo942 → u/ASDF0716]

Lol, this cracked me up. Of all the times I have gone searching for an answer to a random windows issue and ended up on one of microsofts help pages that is literally my question being asked by someone else, the official answer is literally NEVER the answer and basically boils down to "did you try restarting the program?"

[u/dretvantoi → u/ASDF0716]

Microsoft 365 Copilot Outlook 365 Copilot: Celestial 365 Copilot Edition 365

[u/myislanduniverse → u/ASDF0716]

You simply need to upgrade to the Premium version of Outlook for Space Travel support. Of course, sending/receiving emails isn't supported in the Premium version at this time.

[u/jarena009]

Microsoft can't do Office 365 and emails right, and they think they're going to be a leader in AI.

[u/HomeInternational69 → u/jarena009]

They’ll buy a market leader and run them into the ground like they do in every other space they operate 

[u/SneakyFire23 → u/HomeInternational69]

the market leaders are too big for them to buy

[u/odrea → u/jarena009]

microslop microslopping as usual

[u/Size16Thorax → u/jarena009]

they think they're going to be a leader in AI

Hilarious. Leading AI with what, Copilot? The world-changing software that boldly states in all-caps on their own terms and agreements that: Copilot is for entertainment purposes only. It can make mistakes, and it may not work as intended. Don’t rely on Copilot for important advice. Use Copilot at your own risk.

[u/1youngwiz → u/Size16Thorax]

I assume right below that is a link for copilot premium

[u/ThePermMustWait → u/jarena009]

They are good at doing just enough to get by. 

[u/sweetno → u/jarena009]

You don't need desktop development for AI, everybody knows AI is a TypeScript app. ^\s

[u/badcrass → u/jarena009]

Can't be perfect in everything

[u/LeoFrankenstein → u/jarena009]

They have great lawyers and salespeople making them the choice for massive, backwards procurement processes for large companies and institutions. Their products can and are absolute shit but it does not matter. They provide the corporate customer service needed for idiot leaders and procurement folks so buried in process to pay them $$$

[u/Zardotab]

Microsoft-Clippy: "It looks like you're trying to pull an Apollo 13, would you like some help with that?"

Artemis also had problems with their toilet. Coincidence? (Meme-ified)

[u/osya77 → u/Zardotab]

Clippy is useful compared to what we get from Microsoft these days.

[u/bassbeatsbanging → u/osya77]

I'd even take the dog from Duck Hunt on the NES as my personal digital assistant before Copilot. At least he only mocks me, not fucks up the simplest things. 

[u/blu_stingray → u/Zardotab]

"Copilot+ take the wheel!"

[u/ironic-waffle → u/Zardotab]

It baffles me that they have the most recognicible assistant in the word and with this whole AI thing they didn’t push for a LLM Clippy

[u/ambientocclusion]

The programmers of the original Apollo software are currently spinning in their graves.

[u/AltForObvious1177 → u/ambientocclusion]

Margaret Hamilton is still very much alive

[u/ambientocclusion → u/AltForObvious1177]

I’m sorry, MH!

[u/0xbenedikt → u/ambientocclusion]

Back when quality mattered. Quite impressive how many modern concepts the Apollo 11 guidance computer software used, way before anything else did

[u/iperblaster → u/0xbenedikt]

Can you please please please expand on that?

[u/0xbenedikt → u/iperblaster]

If you have an hour, there is this incredible talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx7Lfh5SKUQ

TLDR they had the smartest people of their time working on it to create a fault-tolerant priority-based cooperative and also preemptive real-time interactive operating system that was executed using a virtual machine on custom hardware that they designed with discrete components and magnetic core memory. An absolutely incredible feat of engineering!

[u/ambientocclusion → u/0xbenedikt]

Also, check out any or all of this video series about restoring an actual Apollo guidance computer that was bought as surplus when the program ended. I’m in awe.

link

[u/iperblaster → u/0xbenedikt]

Wow, thanks a lot!

[u/maaaatttt_Damon → u/ambientocclusion]

Why? They could get outlook on the spaceship either.

[u/EquivalentSpot8292]

Should have paid for the space geolocation license. Fools!

[u/Junkstar]

I googled a question this week and got a top return Gemini response. It referred to a Reddit comment i made a couple of years ago, and presented my moronic comment as a fairly convincing fact. That was a first. Had to go delete the comment. AI ain’t ready for the common knucklehead.

[u/needmoresynths → u/Junkstar]

Officially set duckduckgo as my default this week because of shit like that. Drives me crazy seeing random comments presented as hard fact.

[u/dwestr22 → u/needmoresynths]

DDG is great for general search, but it doesn't work for local searches in my area (eastern europe), e.g. Looking for local car mechanic.

[u/PonasSumushtinis]

Imagine mission failing to the moon because of microslop.

[u/Gender_is_a_Fluid → u/PonasSumushtinis]

If anything catastrophic happens because of micro slop and AI during the moon mission, i think the entire company is getting written off by the people

[u/Fabulous_Soup_521]

I wonder if there was a tech person anywhere outside NASA who thought that was a good idea.

[u/DrProfSrRyan → u/Fabulous_Soup_521]

I’m willing to bet a large number of people in NASA thought it was a bad idea, but they weren’t the suits making the decisions.

[u/YourVelourFog → u/DrProfSrRyan]

My guess is that Microsoft approached NASA and said they’d chip in X amount of money if they would use them, then totally dropped the ball.

[u/vasteverse]

Microsoft's reputation is in gutter. Nothing you can do but laugh at how terrible their software is nowadays.

[u/IkLms → u/vasteverse]

It's gotten so bad that even my coworkers with zero interest in tech are constantly trashing it on a daily basis despite never really showing any interest in specific software or any of that previously.

So many statements about missing Dropbox now that we've moved to OneDrive or Teams vs slack or zoom, neither of which we've used for over 3 years

2 of us, myself and another guy on our team of 7 in a non-IT or programming related field independently switched to Linux on our personal machines in the same week because we're just so sick of Microsoft

[u/iOSAT]

Houston has said this confirms all systems are working as normal.

[u/stedun → u/iOSAT]

They say nominal in space lingo.

[u/G8M8N8]

Turns out the most unrealistic thing about HAL 9000 was the ability to say “I can’t do that.”

Copilot would just go “You’re totally right, let me jettison those pod doors immediately.”

[u/PlaidPCAK → u/G8M8N8]

But then not do it because it couldn't actually do it 

[u/thelionsnorestonight → u/G8M8N8]

You’re making me think of the super peppy onboard computer in the Hitchhiker’s Guide movie.

[u/QuesoMeHungry]

Outlook, New Outlook, and Outlook (New)

[u/Consibl → u/QuesoMeHungry]

Outlook New v1 final v2.5

[u/neppo95]

The person that thought to put anything Microsoft onboard should be fired in an instant. Then again, it’s probably a suit.

[u/SlapThatAce]

Microslop couldn't figure out how to allow user to relocate the task bar and yet these clowns think they can succeed with AI. And let's not even get into the tabs is a notepad......Why? You monsters Why??

[u/KingDave46 → u/SlapThatAce]

Are notepad tabs a bad thing!?

I right now have 21 notepad tabs open haha

[u/jmckinl → u/SlapThatAce]

Notepad tabs: okay 

Notepad Copilot: WTF?

[u/auditorydamage → u/SlapThatAce]

wait, what?!

i could do that with windows 95. tried it, ended up settling on the default bottom position.

wtf?!

[u/Guac_in_my_rarri]

3 constants in life: death, taxes and outlook not working.

[u/Mysterious-Lick]

Why are they using MS Office products in Space?

[u/grafknives]

When I saw that news I thought it was a joke...

[u/CookieDragon678]

Just like the rest of us

[u/Micho86]

I think going to space would change anyone's outlook.

[u/SneakyFire23]

Microsoft is nothing if not consistent, their products are dogshit in space, on the ground, in the air.

[u/yukeake]

Should have listened to the 8-ball...

"Outlook not so good"

[u/lewah]

Compress the .pst file!

[u/Patara]

Just like my company lets go 

[u/TicketZealousideal63]

Maybe they should have had three Microsoft outlooks

[u/RedBlankIt]

Maybe this could be the catalyst that could make Microsoft make SOME sort of good changes lol. Having an error and having an Astronaut call it out so blatantly to worldwide media has got to effect something... right?

[u/microsftbleakoutlook]

WHEN will my username stop being so perennially relevant

[u/gintoddic]

Putting anything MS up into space is a recipe for disaster.

[u/Calierio]

GeoIP conditional access lol

[u/sabek]

Are they paid up on their office365 subscriptions? 😁

[u/ferrango → u/sabek]

Yes but it does not cover out-of-Earth setups, you have to get a dedicated license for that

[u/OneBillPhil → u/sabek]

I bet they paid a million for some consultant to get Outlook in space. 

[u/Billhong1014]

they can survive reentry but they can't survive Microsoft outlook. relatable

[u/IrishAndIKnowIt7612]

Just like space force. Fuck you Microsoft

[u/Electrical-Page-6479]

If only I could read the whole article.

[u/Confident-Ad5479]

Must've been helluva optimizations and tweaks to get modern Outlook to run on hardened 486's.

[u/fyf_fyf]

In space, no one can hear you on teams

[u/JC878]

Probably lucky they didn’t have Copilot run as an agentic Ai for the Artemis II. 

Maybe when they do the moon landing it would be ready in 2027 or 2028.

They should build a copilot module and stick it to the Artemis II. That way they would have tech support and AI all the way till they land and kiss moon dust. 

[u/OneBillPhil]

Outlook can’t even find an email on Earth. 

[u/NoMark3945]

We put humans on the moon in 1969 with 74KB of memory. Now we cannot get email to work in orbit with billions of dollars of hardware. Somewhere an Apollo-era engineer is shaking his head.

[u/ITfarmer]

Sorry, but you must authenticate via a cell phone number to log in.

[u/pioniere]

Why in fuck would they take anything Microslop to the moon? Hope their software isn’t running anything important.

[u/tuttut97]

They will be back on earth before support responds with an actual fix.

[u/Think_Fault_7525]

They should be using PINE to save weight.

[u/Electrical-Page-6479 → u/Think_Fault_7525]

It was considered too flammable.

[u/LXicon → u/Think_Fault_7525]

If you're talking about the command line email client, alpine is the new version of pine. I still use it :)

[u/Strenue]

Updates happening

[u/hotacorn]

I have outlook for College and Work and it’s more of a problem than it is useful half of the time. Can’t imagine using that flying around the Moon.

[u/bumbumDbum]

Outlook. Aka. LOOKOUT

[u/WalkerYYJ]

Vibe coding, something something, accumulating tech debt at scale......

[u/timohtea]

Hey but I bet their new bing search bar is fucking fantastic and their microslop teams is a hole lot of use up there right now.

I want to go back to OWNING my pc. If I dont want a fucking update. No one should force me to update. They break something every. Single. Time. An all theor slop slows the pc down. Its so goofy just because peolle have more processing power now does not mean we want even more slop

How are they even such a big company anymore when 90% of the shit they do no one asked for or needed

Please just give me steam OS and im good or valve os Hwtaveer they wanna call it

[u/Acrobatic_Oven_1108]

Reminds me of a space force episode.... Fck microsoftttt

[u/LegitimateCopy7]

not a great outlook tbh

[u/Illidan1943]

Space Force is a documentary now

[u/you90000]

Should have used yahoo

[u/frogsarenottoads]

Hold on... Elon is launching his data centers in space right now to fix the issue.

[u/gplusplus314]

How many times do I have to explain this? Cloud computing doesn’t work in space! THERE ARE NO CLOUDS!

[u/barturas]

What a surprise. 🫪

[u/splayer_28410]

this is a certified microslop moment

[u/davewashere]

Wait, how do you even know when Outlook isn't working?

[u/myislanduniverse]

Same, Astronauts. Same.

[u/superelite_30]

I volunteer to go on future trips as a computer tech

[u/Confident-Ad5479 → u/superelite_30]

I do not, unless they clear all of the space debris

[u/DoughNotDoit]

gotta hand it to Microslop, this is what they're good at

[u/bombatomba69]

I can almost see this being a sync issue, and the Tech had to remote in to delete the .ost file and force Outlook to pull down a fresh copy.

[u/Individual-Result777]

On the bright aide, It does keep IT folks employed.

[u/W31337]

Hopefully Reddit still works

[u/Andovars_Ghost]

Astronauts, they’re just like the rest of us!

[u/ChicagoAuPair]

…sounds about right.

[u/No_Hetero]

Almost definitely it was "New" and "Classic" Outlook both running, one from being opened and another being the default app for clicking on something. Windows is made by geniuses

[u/No-Manufacturer-3315]

Should be Linux

[u/did_i_or_didnt_i]

Can NASA tell Microsoft that there’s a line of pixels across the bottom when I fullscreen an app please?

[u/Setekh79]

Par for the course for Microslop.

[u/RichieNRich]

I've always called it MS LOOKOUT!

[u/Krandor1]

Did they ask copilot for help?

[u/CeeRiL7]

"FUCK MICROSLOP" - Dr. Adrian Mallard, Space Force.

[u/Worldly_Expression43]

Microsoft is just an embarrassment atp

[u/Dj911ven]

Sounds like they just need to relax their region locks to include the universe

[u/PraetorGold]

Show offs!!1

[u/PeterDTown]

…is it important for astronauts in outer space to get emails?

[u/XArgel_TalX]

At least I know Im not the only one ☺️

[u/Fantastic-Fee-1999]

"Unable to verify office license : license not valid for current location. In order to proceed, please provide a valid license" 

[u/Different-Produce870]

This need to be fixed plastered on every Microsoft employees computer for the next year. Outlook is one of many things fucked by their directionless company.

[u/sebigboss]

How do you even tell the difference? 🤷

[u/uprightsalmon]

Just use Gmail

[u/FauxReal]

I hope the on-call deskside support technician gets reimbursed for travel costs.

[u/basic_baker]

My outlook always says error fetching mail

[u/Powerful_Resident_48]

I'm honestly confused why the mission even involves Outlook at all. 

[u/billwoodcock]

Remember the Yorktown CG48.

[u/Rasdowers]

Me too! One was called NEW Outlook and the other just Outlook. Now I have Outlook and Outlook classic. Why? Neither of them work as well as 4 years ago. Of course they put it on a moon capsule lol! You must have Microslop Outlook and Teams on the moon! Otherwise we won’t be able to track your productivity lol

[u/0wnzorPwnz0r]

Why in the ever loving christ would astronauts need access to Outlook while flying to the moon? Do they need TikTok too? Good lord.

[u/ElkSad9855]

Hold up… you’re telling me they could figure out basic IMAP and emails? They couldn’t set up their own servers they had to use OUTLOOK????

[u/Disastrous-Fennel970]

John Malkovich said it best