Computer glitch temporarily knocks out space station guidance

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A computer failure temporarily knocked out the international space station's guidance system Monday and prevented the power-generating solar wings from pointing toward the sun.

The problem -- common aboard Russia's Mir space station but a first at the international outpost -- lasted just four hours. But it was expected to keep the three occupants unusually busy for at least another day.

Mission Control commentator James Hartsfield stressed that the two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut were never in danger, and that the problem merely interrupted their work.

The central computer in the Russian-built living quarters stopped working for unknown reasons. It was restarted by Russian flight controllers soon afterward and took another few hours before becoming fully operational, NASA said.

The computer failure knocked out the spacecraft's orientation-control system, causing the space station to drift through orbit without the ability to point its solar wings directly at the sun.