Technologies

Try to Spot the Secret Messages NASA Hid Inside the Orion Spacecraft

The craft is packed with Easter eggs, from a Morse code message to a bird image.

NASA may be serious about science, but the space agency likes to have fun, too. On Wednesday, NASA challenged the public to scour an image of the interior of the Artemis I Orion spacecraft in search of hidden Easter eggs, which it describes as «fun puzzles, hidden messages, and visual references.»

Twitter users are working to decipher the puzzles, so you may want to avoid the comments if you’d like to figure it out for yourself.

Orion is on its way back home after a spectacular November launch that kicked off NASA’s new Artemis era of moon exploration. The capsule has no humans on board, but it’s stocked with lots of other items, including a manikin in an orange spacesuit, a Snoopy toy and a technology demonstration that uses Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant.

Here’s a bigger image to expand:

I won’t drop any major spoilers, but I can get you started in your cosmic treasure hunt. Look at the top center of the image and spot the series of black dots and dashes. Start at the bottom and translate the Morse code to reveal a name. I have a theory about who it references, but I’m not going to say.

The Artemis I mission has gone smoothly so far, sending the spacecraft out beyond the moon as NASA seeks to prove Orion is ready to carry human astronauts for Artemis II.

NASA said it will reveal all the Easter eggs on Dec. 10, the day before Orion is scheduled to return to Earth with an ocean splashdown. How many will you find?

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 19, #542

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle No. 542 for Thursday, March 19.

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 tricky. Remember that many athletes’ surnames look like common words, so if you’re having trouble sorting the answers, think about whether a particular word could be someone’s last name. 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: Football division.

Green group hint: They catch the pigskin.

Blue group hint: College hoopsters.

Purple group hint: Where’s the glass slipper?