Technologies

SpaceX’s Starship Could Launch Just Weeks After NASA’s First Artemis Mission

A pair of monster rockets are set to make history before the new year.

There could be a tremendous amount of space travel history made in the closing weeks of 2022 as two long-awaited and game-changing rockets are now set to make their first trips to space within weeks of each other.

NASA says it is confident its new Space Launch System and Orion capsule are ready for blastoff on Nov. 14 for the uncrewed Artemis I mission around the moon, if the weather around Florida cooperates. Meanwhile, another vehicle that the space agency has adopted into its Artemis program to return humans to the moon — the Starship from SpaceX and Elon Musk — could finally fly beyond the bounds of Earth’s atmosphere for the first time in early December.

Both mega rockets have been years in the making and are ready to set new marks when it comes to power and lifting capacity. If Artemis I does get off the ground next week after several delays, it will become the most powerful operational rocket in the world, and NASA’s most powerful ever. But it could be eclipsed just a few weeks laterby Starship and its Super Heavy booster, which is designed to deliver even more thrust than the SLS.

All of this is in the service of pushing humans farther out into the solar system, first by establishing a permanent base on the surface of the moon through a series of Artemis missions, and then on to Mars in the 2030s. Both the SLS/Orion combo and Starship will likely play a role in delivering infrastructure and astronauts to the moon over the next decade. NASA selected Starship as a human landing system for the Artemis program last year.

That’s the plan, anyway. First, both of these vehicles have to prove they can get off the ground. We’ve seen the Starship fly high in the atmosphere and come back for a landing, but it has yet to visit space, and the Super Heavy booster needed to make it to the moon hasn’t left the surface.

As for Artemis I and SLS, the saga is much longer, with the banger rocket way overbudget and years behind schedule. Attempts to launch in recent months have been set back by engine troubles, pesky leaks and a rude visit from Hurricane Ian. The rocket was rolled back to the huge Vehicle Assembly Building on Cape Canaveral for safe-keeping and repairs. Now it’s back on the launch pad, and NASA says it is ready to go for launch just after midnight ET on Nov. 14 (9:07 p.m. PT on Nov. 13).

Meanwhile, Starship is working through a long to-do list leading up to its first orbital flight.

«Right now, the schedule would lead to an early December test flight,» NASA’s Mark Kirasich, who oversees Artemis development, told an advisory council on Oct. 31.

Between now and then, Starship still needs to conduct a test firing of its engines and perform a «wet dress rehearsal» where fuel is loaded into the rocket and a mock countdown is run. SpaceX also still must secure its launch license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which gave a conditional green light to Starship moving forward in June, but with a laundry list of 75 modifications to the plan that needed to be done first.

Starship’s planned first flight will be considerably shorter than that of Artemis I. The SpaceX system will blast off from Texas and make a quick trip to orbit before splashing down in the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii. Artemis, on the other hand, is set to fly Orion around the far side of the moon before coming back to Earth.

NASA plans to begin its livestreaming coverage of the countdown to Artemis I launch on Nov. 11 with a prelaunch briefing at 4 p.m. PT.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Jan. 28

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 28.

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.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on for all 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: Remove from a position of power
Answer: OUST

5A clue: Not cool
Answer: UNHIP

7A clue: «Fine, see if ___!»
Answer: ICARE

8A clue: Kind of bored
Answer: JADED

9A clue: Primatologist’s subjects
Answer: APES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Kind of board
Answer: OUIJA

2D clue: Prepare to use, as a pen
Answer: UNCAP

3D clue: Desirable place to sit on a hot day
Answer: SHADE

4D clue: Pair on a bicycle
Answer: TIRES

6D clue: ___ Xing (street sign)
Answer: PED

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Jan. 28, #492

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Jan. 28, No. 492.

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 is a tough one. 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: Stats about an athlete.

Green group hint: Where to watch games.

Blue group hint: There used to be a ballpark.

Purple group hint: Names are hidden in these words.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Player bio information.

Green group: Sports streamers.

Blue group: Former MLB ballparks.

Purple group: Ends in a Hall of Fame QB.

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 player bio information. The four answers are alma mater, height, number and position.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is sports streamers. The four answers are Netflix, Paramount, Peacock and Prime.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is former MLB ballparks. The four answers are Ebbets, Kingdome, Three Rivers and Tiger.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends in a Hall of Fame QB. The four answers are forewarner, Harbaugh, honeymoon and outmanning.

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Technologies

Google Rolls Out Expanded Theft Protection Features for Android Devices

The latest Android security update makes it harder for thieves to break into stolen phones, with stronger biometric requirements and smarter lockouts.

Google on Tuesday announced a significant update to its Android theft-protection arsenal, introducing new tools and settings aimed at making stolen smartphones harder for criminals to access and exploit. The updates, detailed on Google’s official security blog, build on Android’s existing protections and add both stronger defenses and more flexible user controls.

Smartphones carry your most sensitive data, from banking apps to personal photos, and losing your device to theft can quickly escalate into identity and financial fraud. To counter that threat, Google is layering multiple protective features that work before, during and after a theft.

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At the center of the update is a revamped Failed Authentication Lock. Previously introduced in Android 15, this feature now gets its own toggle in Android 16 settings, letting you decide whether your phone should automatically lock itself after repeated incorrect PIN or biometric attempts. This gives you more control over how aggressively your phone defends against brute-force guessing without weakening security.

Google is also beefing up biometric security across the platform. A feature called Identity Check, originally rolled out in earlier Android versions, has been broadened to apply to all apps and services that use Android’s Biometric Prompt — the pop-up that asks for your fingerprint or face to confirm it’s really you — including third-party banking apps and password managers. This means that even if a thief somehow bypasses your lock screen, they’ll face an additional biometric barrier before accessing sensitive apps.

On the recovery side, Google improved Remote Lock, a tool that allows you to lock a lost or stolen device from a web browser by entering a verified phone number. The company added an optional security challenge to ensure only the legitimate owner can initiate a remote lock, an important safeguard against misuse.

And finally, in a notable regional rollout, Google said it is now enabling both Theft Detection Lock and Remote Lock by default on new Android device activations in Brazil, a market where phone theft rates are comparatively high. Theft Detection Lock uses on-device AI to detect sudden movements consistent with a snatch-and-run theft, automatically locking the screen to block immediate access to data.

With stolen phones often used to access bank accounts and personal data, Google says these updates are meant to keep a single theft from turning into a much bigger problem.