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NASA regains contact with ISS after communications loss

NASA and the astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) managed to restore communications this afternoon, after they briefly lost contact today.

The crew was able to contact mission control via Russian ground stations every 90 minutes or so, as they flew over. Commander Kevin Ford checked in during one such fly-over to say that the station was flying straight and the crew was doing well.

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"This is the same way they used to do it in the 1960s, with Gemini and Apollo," said NASA spokesman Josh Byerly, according to CNN.

The communications blackout, which happened at 9:45 a.m. EST (14:45 GMT), was apparently caused by a computer error, following a software upgrade.

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"It's not a panicked mood that takes over mission control," Byerly said as attempts were made to reestablish contact. "Anybody's who's been here has seen that."

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