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A Dead Rocket Is About to Crash Into the Moon, and Scientists Can’t Wait

Our natural satellite has never experienced space junk quite like this before.

The strange story of a hunk of space junk on a collision course with the moon comes to an explosive end Friday, and astronomers are excited to view the fallout.

An old rocket booster once thought to be the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9, but now believed to be from the Chinese Chang’e 5-T1 mission (although China denies this), will slam into the moon’s far side at over 5,000 miles per hour.

Bill Gray, an amateur astronomer and software developer in Maine, first noticed the terminal trajectory. His software picked up the impact in an orbital model and Gray worked with observatories around the world to gather additional data and increase his confidence in the prediction.

Gray believes he misidentified the booster as a Falcon 9 years ago. He and other researchers have since confirmed it to be the Chinese rocket part instead.

«I am astounded that we can tell the difference between the two rocket body options — SpaceX versus Chinese — and confirm which one will impact the moon with the data we have,» Adam Battle, a planetary science graduate student at the University of Arizona said in a statement in February. «The differences we see are primarily due to type of paint used by SpaceX and the Chinese.»

In a blog post, Gray wrote that «with all the data, we’ve got a certain impact at March 4 12:25:58 Universal Time (4:25 a.m. PT).» Jonathan McDowell, a leading watcher of orbit and everything near Earth in space, confirmed the prediction.

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The rocket will crash into the lunar surface in a crater named Hertzsprung that’s a little larger than the state of Iowa. The location is remote enough that the impact doesn’t pose any threat to the Apollo mission or other space program landing sites.

«The upcoming rocket impact will provide a fortuitous experiment that could reveal a lot about how natural collisions pummel and scour planetary surfaces,» University of Colorado Boulder planetary scientist Paul Hayne writes for The Conversation. «A deeper understanding of impact physics will go a long way in helping researchers interpret the barren landscape of the Moon and also the effects impacts have on Earth and other planets.»

Hayne expects the impact will obliterate the rocket instantly and create a white flash that could be visible if any spacecraft were in place with a vantage point. That doesn’t seem likely, however. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter won’t be in a position to start taking photos of the impact site until mid-March.

«It will be the moon’s newest archaeological site,» writes space archaeologist Alice Gorman. «We’ll learn something about the geology of the location from the color differences and distribution of the ejected material. It’s an opportunity to learn more about the moon’s mysterious far side.»

Besides adding a new feature to the dark side of the moon, there’s some concern it could also introduce tiny hitchhikers to our natural satellite.

«So I’m not bothered by one more crater being made on the moon,» David Rothery, professor of planetary geosciences at the UK’s Open University, wrote in The Conversation. «It already has something like half a billion craters that are 10 meters or more in diameter. What we should worry about is contaminating the moon with living microbes, or molecules that could in the future be mistaken as evidence of former life on the moon.»

The European Space Agency issued a statement last month raising its concern that not enough is being done to track space junk, as NASA and others hope to establish a permanent presence on the moon.

«The upcoming lunar impact illustrates well the need for a comprehensive regulatory regime in space, not only for the economically crucial orbits around Earth but also applying to the moon,» said Holger Krag, head of ESA’s space safety program.

This won’t be the first time a spacecraft has slammed into the moon, although Gray thinks it might be the first time it’s happening unintentionally. As recently as 2009, NASA slammed its Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (Lcross) into the surface in a search for water (it found some).

«In essence, this is a ‘free’ Lcross,» Gray says. «Except we probably won’t see the impact.»

Technologies

Apple Expands Official Self Service Repair Options to Include iPads

DIY types, take note, the updated Self Service Repair Store provides iPad owners a whole new world of options.

Having iPad trouble? With Apple’s May 29 expansion of its Self Service Repair Store, you may be able to fix your device at home.

Users will have the choice of taking their iPads to an Apple Store Genius Bar or attempting certain repairs by themselves with help from Apple’s own resources. The Self Service Repair Store will now offer genuine iPad parts (including displays, batteries, cameras and charging ports), repair toolkits and the ability to arrange an Apple Diagnostics session, among other add-ons. This change also affects independent repair providers who were not previously able to legally repair iPads or offer parts to customers.

The service expansion will cover the iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro (M4), iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad (A16) models.

This follows past expansions Apple has made to its self-repair program, which started in 2022, such as adding the MacBook Pro in 2023. At the time, we noted that this move may be in response to the Right to Repair movement, which has led to repair-oriented  legislation in all 50 states. Whatever the reason, Apple has now expanded its own self-repair options to tablet owners.

«At Apple, our goal is to create the world’s greatest products that last as long as possible,» Brian Naumann, vice president of AppleCare, said in a statement. «With today’s announcement, we’re excited to expand our repair services to more customers, enabling them to further extend the life of their products, all without compromising safety, security, or privacy.»

Apple also announced its Self Service Repair options would be expanding this summer into Canada, making it the 34th country offering the program. A representative for Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

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T-Mobile Says It’s Not Spying on You. What the New Screen Recording Tool Actually Does

A new setting that looks like a privacy risk is popping up for some customers. T-Mobile explains what’s really going on.

Some T-Mobile customers during the past week have been surprised to discover a new — and enabled by default — feature in the T-Life app called «Screen recording tool.» In light of recent iffy recording tools such as Microsoft’s Recall AI feature in Windows, seeing a feature that records the contents of your screen is bound to raise privacy concerns.

How to disable Screen recording tool if you see it

If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, you can check if this new option has been turned on by opening the T-Life app, tapping Manage and then tapping Settings (the gear icon). The Screen recording tool option shows up under the Preferences heading.

If the option is there, tap it to reveal a description and a toggle switch. The description reads: «We use a tool to record how customers use the app to analyze and improve your experience. Only T-Mobile will review and analyze your info. If you turn this toggle on or magenta, we will record your screen while you use the app. If you turn this toggle off or gray, we will not record your screen.»

To disable the feature, tap the switch so it becomes gray. (The «magenta» and «gray» in the text refer to the color of the toggle switch to indicate whether it’s active or not, respectively.)

Why T-Mobile stands behind the new feature

When I reached out to the company for more information, a T-Mobile spokesperson defended the feature, saying it was designed to improve the user experience.

«To help us give customers who use T-Life a smoother experience, we are rolling out a new tool in the app that will help us quickly troubleshoot reported or detected issues,» the spokesperson said. «This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information. If a customer’s T-Life app currently supports the new functionality, it can be turned off in the settings under preferences.»

According to a post on droidlife, which earlier referenced the issue, the new option shows up on both iPhone and Android phones.

Why opt-in is so important

On the face of it, the Screen recording tool appears to do what it says, and the fact that it’s limited to just the T-Life app is a reasonable, and expected, limitation.

But as with all potential privacy issues, the fact that T-Mobile is enabling the feature by default has rightly made customers suspicious. It should be off initially, and if an issue arises that would require screen recording, then the company could get permission from the phone owner to turn it on.

T-Mobile in fact has a similar setup within the T-Life app. There’s another screen recording feature that is completely separate from this new Screen recording tool. In the app’s settings, under Help & support, is Screen Share, which can be used during a support call. It allows a T-Mobile expert to view your phone’s screen while troubleshooting an issue. It requires several steps and requires you to consent to having your screen recorded before allowing a support expert to connect to the app.

If you’ve ever tried to help a friend or family member over the phone and asked them to describe what’s on the screen, you’ll appreciate how helpful it can be to view what they’re seeing directly.

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CNET’s Daily Tariff Price Tracker: I’m Following 11 Key Products to Help Monitor Tariff Impacts

As inconsistent as things have been, Donald Trump’s tariff policies are still certain to cause price hikes in the US, and I’m here to help track the price moves for things you might want to buy.

President Donald Trump ramped up his clashes with companies over their reactions to his contentious tariff agenda in the past few weeks. For starters, he demanded that Walmart eat the cost of the new import taxes after the company said its prices would go up by the summer because of his import taxes. To close out last week, he threatened Apple with a 25% duty on its products if it doesn’t move manufacturing to the US, a prospect that has been widely dismissed as a fantasy. The president also threatened a 50% tariff on the European Union but pushed that idea back to July after speaking with trade representatives for the union.

The basic truth of the situation is that tariffs are almost certainly going to cause prices to climb and with this piece I’ve been tracking just that: the daily effect of Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has, as Amazon claimed, remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, given the recent warnings from major retailers like Target and Walmart.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 included items over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

A recent tariff agreement with China, much hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against the US’s biggest trading partner. The new 30% rate is only temporary, however, and still historically high. It just looks more reasonable next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month. 

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree. 

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.

Apple has made several moves this year to protect its prices in the US as much as possible, like flying in bulk shipments of product ahead of the tariffs taking effect and working to move production for the American market from China to India, where tariff rates are less severe. This latter move provoked a response from Trump, given his noted fixation on the iPhone, saying last week that he «had a little problem» with Tim Cook over the move, claiming without evidence that the Apple CEO pledged to bring more manufacturing to the US. Cook and others close to the company for years say that the supply chains for its products are too complex to move manufacturing entirely to the US. 

This week, Trump further threatened a 25% penalty rate against Apple products if it did not move manufacturing to the US. How that will play out is still unclear, but notably, foreign-made iPhones with 25% tax would still probably be much cheaper than iPhones predominantly made in the US.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company so it might have some measure of tariff resistance. 

For most of 2025, this model has hovered around $400 but it’s currently sitting at about $429. Whether this is a temporary fluctuation or a more permanent price hike, we’ll let you know as time goes on.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to hover around $199 on the site, a notable discount from its $249 list price. In the past month, however, its gotten closer to that price on Amazon, so if you’re looking to buy a pair, you might want to consider doing it sooner rather than later.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it’s currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon’s Memorial Day sale. So, if you’re looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.» 

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.

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