Technologies

Russian Soyuz mission sending film crew to space Tuesday: How to watch live

A few famed Russians will blast off for ISS Expedition 66.

2021 has been the year a whole new class of people have joined the still rare group of humans who have made the trip to space. Billionaires Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and Jared Isaacman have all taken the trip, and iconic actor William Shatner is on deck, but first a Russian mission will carry two civilians to the International Space Station to film part of a movie.

A Soyuz rocket is set to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Tuesday with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, film director Klim Shipenko, and actor Yulia Peresild aboard. Shipenko and Peresild will be filming a Russian movie called Challenge during their 12-day stay in orbit.

At a press conference for ISS Expedition 66 on Monday, Peresild said she’s looking forward to months of training for the mission finally paying off.

«We worked really hard and we are really tired,» said the award-winning 37-year-old actor. «It was psychologically, physically and morally hard. But I think that once we achieve the goal, all that will seem not so difficult and we will remember it with a smile.»

«I am proud of being entrusted with such a mission — to fly without professionals, cosmonauts, astronauts,» added Shkaplerov, who will act as a sort of orbital chaperone for the pair.

While it looks to be the first footage to end up in a feature-length movie, it won’t be the first film shot on the ISS: video game developer and entrepreneur Richard Garriott filmed a sci-fi short during his stay as a passenger, paying his own way to orbit in 2008. The Russian flick may also help inform how a space-based project involving NASA, SpaceX and Tom Cruise will play out.

Shipenko, who has some of the most popular Russian films ever in his portfolio, and Peresild will stay on the ISS for 12 days before returning via a different Soyuz capsule. Shkaplerov will remain on for a full expedition, likely for about six months.

The liftoff of the Soyuz rocket and MS-19 capsule is set to take place at 1:55 a.m. PT Tuesday. Russian space agency Roscosmos plans to stream the launch live via the feed below.

Technologies

This Transformable Electric Truck Could Become the Cheapest EV in the US

Merging retro touches with a high-tech electric platform, the Slate Truck offers a customizable, budget-friendly alternative to traditional EVs.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #686

Hints and answers for Connections for April 27, #686.

Looking for the most recent 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, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle might make you hungry — especially if you spot the four words in the blue category. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

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

Yellow group hint: Do the math.

Green group hint: Tresses.

Blue group hint: Munchies.

Purple group hint: Think Stockholm.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Calculator buttons.

Green group: Amounts of hair.

Blue group: Salty snack unit.

Purple group: Swedish ____.

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

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is calculator buttons. The four answers are equals, minus, percent and times.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is amounts of hair. The four answers are lock, shock, thatch and tuft.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is salty snack unit. The four answers are Combo, Goldfish, Ruffle and Taki.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is Swedish ____. The four answers are Chef, Fish, massage and meatball.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for April 27, #420

Here are hints — and answers — for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 420 for April 27.

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

Sleep used to be so simple, but now it can be complex, as we try to add in extra things to help us get that good night’s rest. Today’s NYT Strands puzzle highlights sleep assistance, and a few of the words are tricky. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Sleep tight

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Zzzzz…

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BEDS, MINE, TAKE, TAKES, TAKER, STAKE, LATS, EARL, PLUG, PLUGS, ROUT, MIKE, DATE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers: