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Chinese Rocket Plummets to Earth, Causing One Country to Halt Air Traffic

The booster eventually broke up over the Pacific Ocean.

A Chinese rocket booster made an out-of-control reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over the water early Friday, the US military’s Space Command confirmed.

The booster is the first stage of a Long March 5B rocket that several days ago sent a large module to orbit to expand China’s Tiangong space station.

«The People’s Republic of China Long March 5B #CZ5B rocket reentered the atmosphere over the south-central Pacific Ocean at 4:01 a.m. MDT/10:01 UTC on 11/4,» the US Space Command tweeted Friday.

The Long March 5B weighs over 20 metric tons, measures 10 stories tall and appears to lack the hardware to make a controlled reentry and steer itself toward a safe, planned splashdown.

Instead, the Chinese space program rolled the dice that what remained of the rocket, after much of it burned up in the atmosphere, would land somewhere on the majority of the planet’s surface that is either unpopulated or covered by ocean.

It seems the gamble worked out this time, but in the process the dramatic descent caused a 40-minute closure of a significant portion of Spanish airspace, causing delays to around 300 flights, according to the Reuters news agency. It also potentially littered debris over an area in Mexico.

Jonathan McDowell, Harvard astronomer and leading expert on all things orbital, noted that the hunk of space junk likely broke apart as it was speeding over the Pacific in the direction of Mexico and that some of the debris may have made it ashore.

There have been no reports of debris on the ground just yet.

If the rocket broke up over the Pacific, why was there was concern on the other side of the world in Spain? It’s because the exact point of reentry is hard to predict. The errant object is traveling at thousands of miles per hour as it collides with the atmosphere and begins to slow down while burning up and being shredded by the friction.

The rocket remnant appears to have passed through Spain’s airspace without incident and broke up 40 minutes later — far, far away.

«The uncertainty of where the large debris will ultimately land presents a level of risk to human safety and property damage that is well above commonly accepted thresholds,» the Aerospace Corporation, which tracks reentries, wrote in a statement.

The rocket was used to send Mengtian, the third and final section of Tiangong, to orbit for installation on a launch that took place Monday.

Similar reentry risks were seen with the launch of the previous two Tiangong space station modules as well. A spent rocket landed in the Indian Ocean on May 8, 2021, and another broke up over Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines on July 30, 2022. In 2020, a Long March 5B mission also led to debris falling on western Africa.

Falling space junk has damaged property, but there has never been a report of human injuries or death. Earth’s population distribution makes it most likely any trash making it all the way from orbit to the surface ends up either in the ocean or someplace remote (rural Australia seems popular).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 27, #430

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 27, No. 430.

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.

Fittingly, today’s Thanksgiving Day Connections: Sports Edition is mostly about football (although the yellow category covers all sports, really). If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for 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: Grab some points.

Green group hint: Pass the turkey.

Blue group hint: Face your big rival.

Purple group hint: Playing with letters in team names.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Places where one scores.

Green group: Associated with the NFL on Thanksgiving.

Blue group: College football rivalry «cups.»

Purple group: NFL teams, with the first letter changed.

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 places where one scores. The four answers are end zone, goal, hoop and plate.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is associated with the NFL on Thanksgiving. The four answers are Cowboys, Lions, Madden and Turducken.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is college football rivalry «cups.» The four answers are Apple, Commonwealth, Governor’s and Territorial.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL teams, with the first letter changed. The four answers are fills (Bills), Mets (Jets), pears (Bears) and yams (Rams).

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, Nov. 27

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 27.

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.

It’s Thanksgiving, but I wasn’t too thankful for today’s Mini Crossword. It took me nearly four minutes to solve and has some very tricky clues. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

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: Enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal
Answer: FEASTED

8A clue: Back half of a GOAT?
Answer: ALLTIME

9A clue: Sudden urge
Answer: IMPULSE

10A clue: Santa’s landing place
Answer: ROOF

11A clue: Abstain from eating
Answer: FAST

15A clue: Tough guy
Answer: BRUISER

18A clue: Ready to use without further assembly
Answer: TURNKEY

19A clue: Some pieces of [circled letters] at the Thanksgiving table
Answer: WINGS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Inside the foul line, in baseball
Answer: FAIR

2D clue: Furry monster with a falsetto
Answer: ELMO

3D clue: Pet food brand
Answer: ALPO

4D clue: Thanksgiving side dish that can fill the [circled letters]
Answer: STUFFING

5D clue: Shop ___ you drop
Answer: TIL

6D clue: M M M M
Answer: EMS

7D clue: Billy ___ Williams, actor who played Lando Calrissian in «Star Wars»
Answer: DEE

12D clue: Requests
Answer: ASKS

13D clue: «Get what I’m saying?»
Answer: SEE

14D clue: Give it a go
Answer: TRY

15D clue: «I should mention …,» for short
Answer: BTW

16D clue: N.B.A. power forward ___ Hachimura
Answer: RUI

17D clue: Large coffee dispenser
Answer: URN

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Technologies

I Found This Refurbished iPhone 15 for Just $449 at Woot This Black Friday

This used model is pristine and an unbeatable $281 off its list price.

Apple makes some of the best phones on the market right now, but their price tags make a lot of buyers wince. However, now that the new is out, you can save on refurbished previous-gen phones such as the iPhone 15. If you want to save as much as possible, then this Woot deal is one you want want to miss out on. You can make a refurbished 128GB iPhone 15 yours for just $449 when you use the coupon code GRAVY. This deal is available today only, so it’s especially important to act fast.

There are a few things you should know about this Woot offer before you place your order. Woot classifies these phones as «pristine,» which means that they’ve «never been in customer hands» and have been tested and ensured to have 100% battery life. They do come backed by a one-year limited warranty, but are not eligible for AppleCare and will not come in the original box. Also note that there’s only a single configuration available, which comes in black and has 128GB of storage.

As for the specs, you’ll get everything that made the iPhone 15 so popular when it launched in Sept. 2023, including a large 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display with the Dynamic Island built in. The fast A16 Bionic chip has a 5-core GPU while the 48-megapixel main camera takes stunning photos. Emergency SOS via Satellite is included, should you find yourself in need of rescue beyond the reach of cellular connectivity as well.

If you’re not sure if this previous-gen model is for you, you can check out our list of all the best iPhone 17 deals for savings on Apple’s latest phones. You can also find plenty of other deals on the iPhone 15 and other previous-gen models in our full roundup of all the best iPhone deals.

MOBILE DEALS OF THE WEEK

Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.

Why this deal matters

Direct discounts on iPhones are exceedingly rare, so shopping refurbished is one of the only ways to score some savings without signing up with a carrier. This iPhone 15 is essentially new, but at just $449 you’re still getting it for around the same price as a used model, making this an incredible bargain.

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