Technologies

NASA Leans Into Solar Eclipse With 3 Rocket Launches: Here’s What’s Up With That

The space agency isn’t letting today’s solar eclipse go to waste.

We’re just hours away from North America’s last total solar eclipse until 2044, and as we prepare to look to the sky, NASA is preparing to launch three rockets.

Before, during and after the eclipse on Monday, NASA will fire three sounding rockets to determine how the total eclipse could affect radio communications on Earth. The findings could pave the way for NASA to develop new technologies to protect radio communications during both brief and extended periods when solar behavior disrupts particles on Earth.

Stargazers from Mexico to the US and Canada are standing by for the last total solar eclipse to pass over the contiguous US for the next 20 years. The duration of totality, or the time during which the moon completely shrouds the sun from view, will last 4 minutes and 27 seconds. The eclipse will reach Texas at approximately 1:10 p.m. ET and Maine by 2:22 p.m. ET. By 4:17 p.m. ET, it will move beyond the eastern North American border.

Firing rockets during an eclipse may sound like it comes straight from a sci-fi movie, but it’s a technique that’s been used for years to measure scientific data and theories. Indeed, eclipses provide critical, if short-lived, opportunities for scientists to gather information on a variety of topic areas to test whether their concepts are accurate.

Arguably the most important finding during an eclipse occurred in May 1919, when scientists discovered during a total eclipse that some stars appeared to be in the wrong place, according to NASA. The finding provided critical evidence to support Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and the idea that the sun or other large celestial objects have so much gravity that they can bend light and distort spacetime.

NASA’s rocket launches on Monday won’t necessarily have that same gravitas, but science works in increments. The launches will be streamed live, so you can see what happens. Here’s how.

Why is NASA firing rockets during the eclipse?

The space agency is firing three sounding rockets, or rockets carrying scientific instruments, into the ionosphere, the region of the Earth’s atmosphere between the lower atmosphere, where we live, and space.

The ionosphere is scientifically important because it’s made up of particles that become ionized, or electrically charged, when they interact with the sun’s radiation. According to NASA, the ionosphere thins at night and thickens when the sun’s rays are hitting it. The ionosphere can be unpredictable, since it’s highly sensitive to disruption.

«Earth’s terrestrial weather and space weather can impact these particles, making it a dynamic region and difficult to know what the ionosphere will be like at a given time,» NASA says.

Another thing: the ionosphere affects communication, and especially high-frequency communication like radio waves. That could, for instance, create disturbances in communications with pilots in the air or with government agencies doing research. But radio waves traveling to and from satellites aren’t just of concern to aviators and scientists. They’re also vital elements of daily life, from satellite internet services like SpaceX’s Starlink to the GPS signals that underlie all manner of financial transactions and that help you get where you’re going.

From a site in Virginia, NASA’s three rockets will be launched into the ionosphere 45 minutes apart: before the eclipse starts; when the eclipse is ongoing; and after the eclipse has reached its peak. The rockets will reach a maximum altitude of 260 miles, allowing them to spend plenty of time in the ionosphere, which spans 55 miles to 310 miles above the Earth’s surface.

Each of the rockets is carrying four two-liter soda bottle-sized instruments that will be ejected during flight to evaluate any ionosphere disturbances, or perturbations, during the eclipse.

«Gathering the data on these perturbations will help scientists validate and improve current models that help predict potential disturbances to our communications, especially high frequency communication,» NASA says.

Has NASA fired rockets at an eclipse before?

This isn’t the first time NASA has fired rockets during an eclipse. In October, NASA fired the same three rockets from its White Sands Test Facility in North Mexico during an annular solar eclipse. The agency said that it was able to recover the rockets and refurbish them, allowing them to be used in Monday’s mission.

Thanks to that mission, scientists were able to see ionosphere disturbances after it fired the second and third rockets, during and after the eclipse, respectively. NASA didn’t see any ionosphere disturbance during the first launch.

However, this time around, the rockets are equipped with additional instruments, allowing them to capture more information than they did last year, NASA says.

When is NASA firing its rockets?

NASA plans to launch all three rockets from its Wallops Island facility in Virginia. The first rocket will launch at approximately 2:40 p.m. ET, with the second rocket launching at approximately 3:25 p.m. ET. NASA plans to launch the final rocket by 4:05 p.m. ET.

As always, timing on the launches depends on a variety of factors, including on-the-ground conditions, and may be subject to change. But since the eclipse isn’t waiting for NASA to be ready to fire rockets, expect the space agency to try to keep a tight schedule to ensure it doesn’t miss its window to capture data.

How can I watch NASA fire rockets at the eclipse?

If you’re interested in watching NASA’s rocket-firing mission, the agency will livestream it from its official Wallops Island YouTube page. It’ll also be featured during NASA’s official solar eclipse broadcast

The rocket-only livestream will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET. NASA will start airing its solar eclipse coverage at 1 p.m. ET.

Technologies

Google’s Canvas AI Project-Planning Tool Is Now Available to Everyone in the US

The AI workspace offers a dedicated space to organize plans and projects.

Canvas, the AI planning tool from Google Search, has rolled out across the US, the company said Wednesday. Canvas is essentially a project planning tool with a range of uses, including trip planning. You can select the tool directly from the AI Mode screen at the top of the Google Search results page.

The tool is integrated into AI Mode and can be used on both desktop and mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. However, because Canvas opens a second screen beside the main chat window, it’s a little trickier to see on a smartphone. You’ll have to toggle between the screens.

Going anywhere? Maybe college?

Planning trips is one of Canvas’s main functions, with the ability to view and account for flights, hotels and other relevant information in real time.

«Canvas makes it easy to build travel plans customized for your specific needs — bringing together real-time Search data for flights and hotels, details from Google Maps like photos and reviews, and relevant information from sites across the web,» a Google spokesperson told CNET.

Google also notes you can use Canvas as an academic scholarship tracker, which includes dollar amounts and deadlines.

Project planning with AI

Once you’re in the AI Mode screen on Google, you can select the Canvas option from the plus sign that appears on the left side of the box where you type.

Clicking the Canvas button opens the project in a side panel. From there, you can refine the project with the standard chat prompts. You can even look at the underlying code and adjust the Canvas window’s user interface, such as switching to dark mode.

Rose Yao, vice president of product for Google Search, posted a thread on X on Wednesday, sharing a video of a summer camp project for her kids. Canvas created an interactive dashboard that sorts camp options by cost, distance and focus.

«We’re adding support for coding & creative writing tasks, so you can bring even more ideas to life with custom dashboards or interactive tools,» Yao wrote in the post.

Google first announced Canvas for AI Mode in July 2025, and later that year, expanded Canvas’s travel features.

There’s no word yet from Google on when Canvas will expand into other languages and other countries.

Technologies

McDonald’s CEO Burger Video: Ketchup With This Bizarre New Meme

The executive tentatively took a bite of his company’s new «product,» and now even McDonald’s own social media is relishing the mockery.

Corporate executives: They’re absolutely nothing like us. You might be seeing memes and jokes on social media mocking what appears to be some random man’s wimpy bite into a burger. Here’s the big-mouthed backstory.

On Tuesday, McDonald’s launched its Big Arch burger, and a month before that, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski posted an Instagram video tasting it. But instead of digging into the double-patty, sauced-up and sloppy, 1,020-calorie burger, he … well, delicately nibbles at it? Like the late Queen Elizabeth II might have genteely sampled a cucumber sandwich at afternoon tea?

Kempczinski sings the praises of the Big Arch and then takes the world’s tiniest chomp at it, insisting he took «a big bite, for a Big Arch.»

Does he know what «big» means?

Not only that, but the CEO also says, patting the burger container awkwardly, «I love this product.» As if it’s an IKEA desk. This is America, Chris, we say «burger» here.

Kempczinski’s video came out a month before the burger’s release, and some commenters started grilling the big burger boss right away. But with this week’s release of Big Arch, the internet rediscovered the video.

Comedian Cat Sullivan re-creates the CEO’s video with an even stronger reluctance to taste the food, using the word «product» constantly.

Other restaurant chains especially sank their teeth into the joke. Burger King’s official account cracked, «We couldn’t finish it either» and slammed up an Instagram of its president, Tom Curtis, eating a BK Whopper with a lot more, uh, relish.

Wendy’s created a LinkedIn video showing its president, Pete Suerken, making and enjoying a Wendy’s burger, and he even got in a dig at McDonald’s famously often-broken ice cream machines. Suerken helps himself to a Frosty dessert and announces, «Oh, wait! Our machines are always working.»

Other brands piled on the original post.

«Gonna start test driving our cars 1 metre at a time,» posted car company Mini.

«Is the big bite in the room with us?» cracked the Instagram account for WingStop Canada.

«We do love a square,» wrote Wendy’s UK.

But at least the McDonald’s social media account tried to make fun of its own big boss. The company posted a photo of the Big Arch, using the same awkward term for it that the CEO did, with the caption, «Take a bite of our new product.»

The caption from the McDonald’s Instagram account is at least gamely self-aware, reading «can’t believe this got approved.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 6, #529

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 6, No. 529.

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 features another tricky purple category, so be ready for some word-twisting. 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: Whack!

Green group hint: Surprise!

Blue group hint: Gooooooal!

Purple group hint: Sounds like…