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Astronaut accidentally calls 911 from space, causes NASA scare

Dutch astronaut André Kuipers was making a call via the Johnson Space Center switchboard when he missed a number and called 911

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Dutch astronaut André Kuipers, who is at the International Space Station, was dialing a number via the Johnson Space Center switchboard when he missed a number and called 911.

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By EMS1 Staff

HOUSTON — An astronaut caused a scare at NASA when he accidentally dialed 911 from space.

Fortune reported that Dutch astronaut André Kuipers, who is at the International Space Station, was dialing a number via the Johnson Space Center switchboard when he missed a number and called 911.

In order for astronauts to place calls from the ISS, they must first dial 9 to get an outside line. Since he was placing a call through Houston, Kuipers also needed to dial 011 to get an international line, and when he was dialing the code, he forgot the zero.

The misdial prompted alarms throughout the space center and a security team was dispatched to the switchboard room.

“I made a mistake, and the next day I received an email message: did you call 911?” Kuipers said, according to Newsweek.

When joking about the incident, Kupers said he “was a little disappointed that they had not come up,” to check on him.