Nasa Loses Contact with International Space Station

Nasa has confirmed it has lost contact with the International Space Station (ISS) crew after a computer update went wrong. The agency said it last heard from the six-strong crew at 11am EST (4pm GMT).

In a statement on its website, the space agency said it was remotely updating the software on board the station when the systems crashed.

"At approximately 9:45am EST, the International Space Station experienced a loss of communication with the ground," said Nasa.

"Mission Control Houston was able to communicate with the crew as the space station flew over Russian ground stations before 11:00am EST and instructed the crew to connect a backup computer to begin the process of restoring communications. "Expedition 34 commander Kevin Ford reported that the station's status was fine and that the crew was doing well."

The space agency says it is only able to communicate every 90 minutes when the facility passes over ground stations in Russia, according to the CNN.

The ISS is habitable artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. It is the ninth space station to be inhabited.

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