Nasa briefly loses contact with ISS after power outage and relies on backup systems for first time

Loss of communications with International Space Station forced Nasa to rely on Russian systems instead

A power outage at Nasa's building in Houston disrupted communication between mission control and the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, forcing the space agency to rely on backup control systems for the first time.

The outage meant mission control lost command, telemetry and voice communications with the station in orbit. The power outage hit as upgrade work was under way in the building at Houston's Johnson Space Center.