The last time the agency had a crewed lunar mission, it was Apollo 17 in 1972. That means it is more than 50 years since the space programme has sent astronauts to the moon, and all eyes were on the launch. But the glitch that probably triggered an audible groan from Microsoft’s public relations department was when the astronauts requested tech support on the live feed. But it proves that astronauts are just like the rest of us, struggling with technology that should work but for some reason, it doesn’t. Not only did it embarrass Google, but it also wiped $100 billion off parent company Alphabet’s stock, making it an expensive hallucination.

Source: The Irish Times April 09, 2026 05:30 UTC