NASA Loses Contact with Astronauts in the US, Seeks Russian Assistance

The US space agency NASA has temporarily lost contact with the International Space Station due to power supply issues. Russia has come to the rescue, acting as a mediator between Houston and the astronauts, according to an official statement from the American agency.

“This morning… we had problems with the power supply at NASA’s flight control center in Houston, and we lost our ability to command operations, including voice communication and receiving telemetry data. The issue was not with the station; it was entirely grounded,” said Joel Montalbano, manager of NASA's International Space Station program.

Twenty minutes after identifying the issue, NASA specialists managed to re-establish contact with the station using Russian communication systems. The crew was informed about what had transpired. The astronauts, as well as the station itself, are not in any danger. The US mission control center has switched to backup power sources, and an investigation into the cause of the problem is now underway.