Technologies

NASA’s New Moon Mosaic Lets You Peer Deep Into Shackleton Crater

A stunning tag-team image from two NASA moon cameras illuminates future human landing sites.

We’re seeing the moon in a new light. A fresh NASA mosaic view of the lunar south pole region highlights a scenic crater and gives us a look at a prime area for future human exploration.

The mosaic combines imagery sent back from two different spacecraft in orbit around the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera is aboard a NASA orbiter. ShadowCam, a NASA instrument, is in residence on the Korea Aerospace Research Institute’s Danuri orbiter. Danuri is more officially known as the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter.

LROC sends back gorgeous views of the moon’s surface while ShadowCam specializes in hard-to-see shadowed regions.

«ShadowCam is 200-times more light-sensitive than LROC and can operate successfully in these extremely low-light conditions, revealing features and terrain details that are not visible to LROC,» NASA said in a statement on Tuesday.

Shackleton Crater, named for Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton, is permanently shadowed inside. Most images of this area of the moon show a dark void, but ShadowCam can see into the crater’s interior. However, ShadowCam’s superpower means it can’t capture clean images of the more brightly lit surface. That’s where LROC comes in. NASA said the combined view shows the region in «unprecedented detail.»

The Artemis program is underway. It’s aiming for what will be one of the biggest moments in human space exploration: the first landing of astronauts on the lunar surface since the Apollo era of the ’60s and ’70s. NASA is targeting the south polar region and has identified 13 candidate landing sites, several of which are located near Shackleton.

The southern end of the moon is exciting because it may harbor deposits of water ice. Water is difficult to transport across space in large quantities. Harvesting water on site on the moon would enable a steady human presence there and provide resources for making rocket fuel to power expeditions deeper into the solar system.

NASA already flew an uncrewed Artemis I test mission around the moon. Artemis II will send astronauts on a journey around our lunar neighbor. Artemis III, currently planned for 2025, will aim to put boots on the moon. Those future Artemis explorers might look at this image and see where they’ll leave footprints one day.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Nov. 23

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 23.

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? It includes a Jimi Hendrix reference, which I appreciated. 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: LinkedIn listing
Answer: JOB

4A clue: Planet with an average surface temperature of around 860°F
Answer: VENUS

6A clue: Written with a pen
Answer: ININK

7A clue: Sheer torment
Answer: AGONY

8A clue: «___ thoughts?»
Answer: ANY

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Block tower
Answer: JENGA

2D clue: «Red» vegetable that’s really purple, if you ask me
Answer: ONION

3D clue: Word with Bad or Bugs
Answer: BUNNY

4D clue: By way of
Answer: VIA

5D clue: «Excuse me while I kiss the ___» (Hendrix lyric that’s famously misheard)
Answer: SKY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 23, #426

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 23, No. 426.

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 one easy group. I saw «boot» and «eject» and I figured out the yellow group right away. 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: Outta here!

Green group hint: Football stars.

Blue group hint: English events.

Purple group hint: Not black.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Throw out of a game.

Green group: NFL all-time leading receivers.

Blue group: Premier League derbies.

Purple group: ____ Brown.

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 throw out of a game. The four answers are boot, chase, eject and toss.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL all-time leading receivers. The four answers are Fitzgerald, Moss, Owens and Rice.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Premier League derbies. The four answers are Manchester, Merseyside, North London and Tyne-Wear.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ Brown. The four answers are Cleveland, Jaylen, Mack and Tim.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 23, #630

Today’s Strands puzzle is a delicious one, and it might make you hungry. Here are hints, answers and help for Nov. 23, #630.

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.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a delicious one, and it might make you hungry. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, so 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: Sweet tooth

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Halloween treats.

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:

STRAND, STRANDS, REDS, REND, SEND, SENDS, TEND, TENDS, RENDS, SANT, RUST

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 have 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: