Technologies
NASA Just Sent Its First Cubesat to the Moon to Show Artemis the Way
The small satellite successfully entered a unique lunar orbit on Sunday.

While NASA works toward a planned launch of its first big Artemis moon mission early Wednesday, a tiny cubesat has officially arrived at the moon to serve as a pathfinder for upcoming stages of the agency’s milestone lunar program.
Capstone, short for the Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, is the size of a microwave oven and designed to circle the moon via an eccentric elliptical orbit (formally known as a near rectilinear halo orbit) that’s never been flown by a spacecraft before.
Capstone is checking out the route in advance of NASA’s plans to build a space station dubbed Gateway to ply the same orbit. The Gateway will be a waypoint for astronauts in the Artemis program, designed to get humans back on the moon, and it will house equipment and supplies for trips to the lunar surface.
The small satellite performed its initial orbit insertion maneuver, firing its thrusters at 4:39 p.m. PT Sunday to enter the special orbital path, which will allow it to circle the moon along a very fuel efficient route, relying instead on the gravitational pulls of the moon and Earth to stay on course.
It’s expected to take about a week for mission engineers to confirm and fine-tune the path of Capstone after orbital insertion.
Capstone’s journey to the moon has been tumultuous. The compact craft lost communications with Earth for a while in July and later suffered a major technical glitch that sent it tumbling out of control. The team was eventually able to get it oriented and back on track.
«What this Capstone team has overcome to date has been incredible,» said Bradley Cheetham, principal investigator for Capstone and chief executive officer of Advanced Space, in a statement. Advanced Space is a Colorado company that owns and operates Capstone for NASA.
«Overcoming challenges is the purpose of a pathfinding mission,» Cheetham added.
Capstone is scheduled to fire its thrusters only once every six and a half days to maintain its orbit, if that’s needed. The goal is to stay in its orbit for at least six months so engineers can learn more about what will be required to keep Gateway and other spacecraft on such a path for many years.
Technologies
Why Amazon Is Giving Surprise Refunds for Years-Old Purchases (And If You’ll Get One)
Recent internal reviews at Amazon unleashed a wave of new refunds: Some are getting more than $1,000 back from purchases made up to 7 years ago.

Amazon buyers are reporting an influx of unexpected refunds from products they ordered months or even years ago, with one customer on LinkedIn saying he received a refund of $1,800 for a smart TV bought seven years ago. Others made similar comments about products bought long ago.
According to Bloomberg, the new refunds are because of changes Amazon made after an internal review. That review may be related to a 2023 consumer lawsuit by a group of Amazon shoppers who claimed that Amazon had reversed their legitimate return-related refunds.
A representative for Amazon told CNET that only a small number of customers would be affected.
«Following a recent internal review, we identified a very small subset of returns where we issued a refund without the payment completing, or where we could not verify that the correct item had been sent back to us so no refund was issued,» an Amazon representative said. «There is no action required from customers to receive the refunds, and we have fixed the payment issue.»
In its latest earnings call, Amazon reported a one-time expense of $1 billion connected to refunds that the company had not yet sent out. These earmarked funds could be responsible for the sudden updates that shoppers are now seeing regarding purchases as far back as 2018.
Read more: I’ve Been Tracking Tariff Price Impacts Every Day and Here’s What I’ve Found So Far
If you receive an email about a surprise refund from Amazon orders, it may be related to these changes Amazon has made behind the scenes. You may still want to confirm it’s not fraud by logging into your Amazon account or making a quick service call, especially if it’s a larger amount like a payment for a TV. Scammers may be taking advantage of this news, too, so be wary of any notification that asks you for financial information, which Amazon should already have.
Technologies
Expect Record Traffic for Memorial Day Weekend: 6 Money and Time Savers
Technologies
Memorial Day Sale: Google’s Pixel 9 Series Has Up to $300 Off Right Now
Get the standard Pixel 9 or the more premium Pixel 9 Fold for less with these incredible Memorial Day deals.

Android users who want to upgrade to a shiny new phone are always going to be pleased if they check out the Google Pixel 9 lineup. Right now is a great time to pick one up too, because the Memorial Day deals are in full swing, and they can save you some serious cash.
In fact, right now you can get your hands on this line of phones with up to $300 off right now on Amazon, meaning you can get one for as little as $599. You can save even more money if you’ve got a phone to trade in and go with Best Buy too.
There is so much to love about the Pixel 9 series, including its sleek design, the impressive camera setup and even AI features such as the ability to search for content in screenshots, create images from scratch using Pixel Studio app and more.
Pricing varies depending on which model you choose, along with the exact configurations, but there are plenty of options for nearly everyone right now. As a rule, the base Pixel 9 lists for $799 — but right now you can save $200 and score yours for just $599. It’s also our pick for the best phone for Android purists.
Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.
However, the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL also made the list as the top Google phones you can get. They retail for $999 and $1,099, respectively. However, you can get your hands on the 6.3-inch model for as low as $799 or the 6.8-inch model for as little as $899. Of course, if you’re looking for a foldable phone, you’ll enjoy the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold. It typically starts at $1,799, but it’s down to as low as $1,499 right now — a whopping $300 discount.
SMARTPHONE DEALS OF THE WEEK
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$799 (save $200)
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$300 (save $100)
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$357 (save $273)
Why this deal matters
Right now you can save up to $300 off select Pixel 9 series phones at Amazon. The Google Pixel 9 series is chock-full of great options with a lot of features we loved, but that usually carries a large price tag. Saving up to $300 goes a long way, and as these prices are at record lows, we don’t expect the cost to drop any lower any time soon. Getting any of these phones at a discount is a great find, but these prices likely won’t stick around for long, so act fast if you’re interested.
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