Space station computer outage demands spacewalk

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA has ordered spacewalking repairs for a serious computer outage at the International Space Station.

A backup computer for some robotic systems failed Friday. The main computer is fine and the six-man crew is safe. But the malfunction puts next week's supply run in jeopardy.

Mission managers agreed Saturday that a spacewalk is needed to replace the bad computer. But officials want one more day before deciding whether the situation is safe enough in orbit to proceed with Monday's SpaceX launch as planned.

NASA says it will decide Sunday whether to delay the delivery mission. No date for the spacewalk has been set yet.

The SpaceX Dragon capsule is loaded with more than 2 tons of space station supplies at Cape Canaveral. The shipment is already a month late.