Technologies

SpaceX Falcon Heavy May Launch NASA Psyche Mission to Metal Asteroid Next Week

By some estimates, the asteroid could be more valuable than the entire world economy.

NASA has been planning and waiting for years to launch a new spacecraft to explore the bizarrely metal-rich asteroid Psyche. After a delay of a full year, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket may finally loft the craft to space as soon as Oct. 5.

A software glitch caused launch delays in 2022, forcing mission planners to wait until this year, after the launch window expired last October.

The asteroid target is officially named 16 Psyche. It’s shaped like a potato, with a diameter of 173 miles (280 kilometers) at its widest point. The exact composition of the asteroid is a subject of some debate, but NASA says it may be up to 60% iron-nickel metals. This is such an unusually high proportion that some scientists speculate Psyche may be a leftover chunk from an ancient planet’s core.

NASA has no plans to mine the asteroid, but data returned by the mission could help us get a more accurate idea of its potential value. Some estimates have put the figure as high as a mind-blowing 10,000 quadrillion dollars.

NASA and other scientists connected to the mission say they’re more interested in using the trip to Psyche to learn about what Earth’s core might be like, since it’s so close yet so inaccessible.

Psyche isn’t a near-Earth asteroid. It orbits far away, between Mars and Jupiter, and it’ll take the Psyche spacecraft six years to travel the 2.5 billion miles (4 billion kilometers) it needs to cover to reach its heavy metal target.

Along the way, the spacecraft will be testing advanced laser communications technology in deep space for the first time. The optical communications system could be capable of data transmission rates 10 to 100 times higher than current radio systems, perhaps even enabling streaming video. The experiment could lay the foundation for a future interplanetary broadband network when astronauts venture to Mars.

As of last week, NASA said the Psyche spacecraft had completed testing and is fully fueled and ready to launch. The agency and SpaceX are targeting a launch at 10:34 a.m. EDT (7:34 a.m. PDT) on Thursday, Oct. 5, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In case of other delays, there are other opportunities for launch in the current window up until Oct. 25.

The launch will be streamed by NASA and SpaceX.

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: