Technologies

Why SpaceX’s Inspiration4 mission matters to everyone

Commentary: It’s arguably the biggest mission in the so-called billionaire space race of 2021 and a key step to a more high-flying future.

Imagine getting a call saying that if you want, you can join the rare group of less than a thousand humans who’ve not only visited space but orbited this planet. Oh, and the mission blasts off in about six months.

That’s the call three Americans received earlier this year. And the offer wasn’t for the type of 15-minute joyride to the edge of space we recently saw from Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic. We’re talking about a three-day sojourn in orbit, the sort of thing NASA astronauts spend their entire lives preparing for.

Sure, civilians have flown to the International Space Station before, but it typically required a personal fortune, a little influence and months or even years of training. The idea of plucking people from obscurity, Wonka-style, and sending them into orbit has been the stuff of science fiction.

Until now.

As I wrote this, physician’s assistant Hayley Arceneaux and data engineer Chris Sembroski, both of whom had zero reason as of a year agoto expect they’d ever visit space, were whipping around this planet roughly every 90 minutes.

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They were joined by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and geologist Sian Proctor, who both have experience as pilots but no spaceflight experience.

The quartet makes up the entirety of the crew of the Inspiration4 mission that splashed back down to Earth on Saturday. There was no professional astronaut chaperone from NASA on board, just four space novices cruising above Earth, performing research and making history. The mission is also billed as a fundraiser for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, where Arceneaux was a patient as a child and now works as a medical professional.

This was all bankrolled by Isaacman and possible thanks to SpaceX and its autonomous Crew Dragon spacecraft, the first new crewed spaceship (outside of China) that we’ve seen since the space shuttle made its debut decades ago.

For space fanatics, this mission is a big deal, but several billion other humans can be forgiven for wondering why it matters that yet another wealthy person has financed a trip to space and invited a few randos to ride along.

Inspiration for who?

First, it’s important to remember that new methods of transport have typically gone through the same process — trains and planes started out as elite experiences went on to revolutionize our lives. This suggests the Inspiration4 crew could be just the first of many regular people to go to orbit or beyond. (SpaceX didn’t respond to a request for comment.)

Elon Musk has suggested his next-generation Starship could eventually be used for super quick international flights via orbit, possibly with less of a carbon footprint than current commercial jetliners.

Inspiration4 lays the groundwork for the idea of making it to orbit as a passive passenger and opening up space for transportation and other possible uses.

If you believe, as I do, that expanding humanity’s footprint beyond our planet is likely to improve life on our planet, Inspiration4 is an important milestone on that generations-long journey.

I’m not sure Mars is the best place to build a city or that living on orbiting space stations will be practical anytime soon.

But a few things I do know: Industrialization on Earth often comes at the detriment of the planet’s delicate ecosystems, and some of that industry could be moved into space. Billionaires in space today could be the first step toward factories or power plants in orbit tomorrow that help us finally mitigate climate change.

Also, the original space race of the 1950s through 1970s didn’t just put people on the moon, it spawned loads of innovation that undergirds our civilization today.

The GPS on your phone that gets you where you need to go and our satellite-based society that moves all sorts of information around the globe at the speed of light can be traced directly back to the Mercury and Apollo programs and the founding of NASA.

It’s exciting to imagine what parts of daily life in 2050 will owe their prominence to SpaceX and Inspiration4.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, July 13

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for July 13.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword is a little meta. Two clues refer to Wordle, another super-popular game from The New York Times. We have answers for that puzzle, too. In fact, iff you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Gibbon or gorilla
Answer: APE

4A clue: Bird whose name is an excellent starting guess in Wordle, according to WordleBot
Answer: CRANE

6A clue: Cry from a judge
Answer: ORDER

7A clue: Family nickname that would make a terrible starting guess in Wordle
Answer: MAMMA

8A clue: «Hooray!»
Answer: YAY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Widespread display
Answer: ARRAY

2D clue: Lakshmi who was a longtime host of «Top Chef»
Answer: PADMA

3D clue: «Don’t let perfect be the ___ of good» (aphorism)
Answer: ENEMY

4D clue: URL ending
Answer: COM

5D clue: Historical period
Answer: ERA

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for July 13, #293

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for July 13, No. 293

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition has some fun categories. There’s only one requiring last names, and one requiring teams, so if you can sort those easily, you should be in good shape. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Bad news for a golfer.

Green group hint: Aries animal.

Blue group hint: Think California capital city.

Purple group hint: No charge.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Mess up a golf shot.

Green group: Rams

Blue group: Sacramento Kings greats.

Purple group: Free ____.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is mess up a golf shot. The four answers are duff, flub, mishit and shank.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is rams. The four answers are Colorado State, Los Angeles, Rhode Island and VCU.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Sacramento Kings greats. The four answers are Divac, Richmond, Stojaković and Webber.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is free ____. The four answers are agent, kick, safety and throw.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 13, #1485

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 13, No. 1,485.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word, but not easy to guess. That first letter doesn’t come up in any of the starter or secondary words I tend to choose. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.