The Russian computer crash on the ISS is not disturbing – they will just turn it off and on again • The Register

It's never nice to think that the computer destroys work, sometimes requires hours of maintenance and ruins the day.

But think of the three astronauts currently in the International Space Station who discovered earlier today that one of the three computers in the Russian module of the station had failed.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos confirmed the failure Tuesday, but has not yet provided any details other than the fact that she plans to restart the machine on Thursday and that her failure does not put the crew in danger, the other two machines can keep this part of the station operational.

"One of the three computers of the ISS has disappeared," said the agency in a statement (according to our translation into Russian original). "In other words, the program failed." To restore the computer, it is necessary to restart it.

Thirty years ago, NASA put Challenger behind it and sent a space shuttle back into the dark.

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"This failure will not affect the work of the ISS," he continued, noting that the space station "can fly indefinitely on two channels." What is less reassuring is that the restart will only be done on Thursday "to ensure the reliability" of a planned docking with a supply ship, which will likely take place tomorrow.

"There is no need to change the computer," promised Roscosmos.

All space programs have a high degree of redundancy in perfectly similar situations, but you can imagine that Americans Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Russian Sergei Prokopyev and German Alexander Gerst are not exactly above the moon. the vast oxygen-free void of space has disappeared.

Last month, another Russian spacecraft failed spectacularly. A rocket booster brought NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin to the space station. This led to the depressurization of a fuel tank and the loss of control of the servomotor.

The astronauts are fine, but the flight has been interrupted. Those currently on the space station will have to wait another month before they have the slightest chance of leaving the defective metal balloon in the sky. ®