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Set Your Alarm Now to Watch This Weekend’s Dazzling Meteor Shower

If you’re willing to get up early on Sunday, you can enjoy a fascinating view of the night sky.

If you’re looking for something breathtaking to do this weekend, set an alarm clock for early Sunday and look to the sky. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is set to peak this weekend, with the potential for dozens of meteors each hour to shoot across the sky in the predawn hours of Sunday morning. While the number of meteors visible per hour will depend on where you’re located, even those in less-than-ideal conditions should see up to 10 meteors per hour.

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower occurs annually between April 15 and May 27, peaking in early May. Meteors are leftover comet particles that come from broken asteroids. The Eta Aquarid meteor shower is created from dust grains shed by Halley’s Comet when it enters the inner solar system.

According to NASA, the Eta Aquarid meteors are notable for their speed, with the possibility of meteors in the stream hitting a maximum rate of 148,000 miles per minute as they reach the Earth’s atmosphere. Their speed allows them to shed debris as they burn up in the atmosphere leaving what NASA calls «trains» in their wake. Those trains are streaks of light that can last in the sky for minutes after the meteors have passed by.

How to watch the Eta Aquarid meteor shower

As with any other meteor shower, getting the most out of the Eta Aquarid viewing experience has everything to do with location. Those in the southern hemisphere will be able to see more meteors, but those north of the equator will still get a decent amount.

When to get up?

Timing matters in viewing the Eta Aquarids. While they’ll technically be visible all night, viewers will have the best chance of seeing them in the predawn hours on Sunday morning when the sky is darkest. And since the moon will be 14% full that night, light from the moon shouldn’t disrupt viewing.

The nice thing about the Eta Aquarid meteor shower is that it will be visible throughout the night. However, several factors can affect when is the best time to view the shower, including time and cloud cover. Keep an eye on your local weather forecast to determine how cloudy it’s expected to be in your area, and consider that the darkest periods of night usually occur after midnight, leading up to dawn.

What to look for?

You’re looking for fiery streaks shooting across the sky. Think of meteors as dusty, leftover particles from broken asteroids. As asteroids travel around the sun, dust breaks away and take their own path through space. As Earth passes through those dusty areas, comprised of meteors, the meteors collide with the Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrate. From our vantage point on Earth, we see the meteors blow up in a fiery event that creates streaks across the sky.

Leave the city behind

Speaking of light pollution, the chances of seeing the Eta Aquarids when looking to the sky over a big city is nearly zero. Instead, it’s best to get as far away from city lights that pollute the night sky. NASA also recommends lying on your back and facing east for the best chance of seeing as many meteors as possible.

Technologies

The Boeing Starliner Launch Is Delayed: Here’s What to Know

The Starliner’s first crewed launch has been more than a decade in the making.

Not so fast, Boeing Starliner. Boeing’s first crewed spaceflight was scheduled to launch Monday night from Space Launch Complex 41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but it was postponed just two hours before liftoff. Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore were on board and ready to fly when the launch was called off. On Tuesday, NASA said that the earliest the launch would happen would be Friday, May 10.

The mission was scrubbed because of a faulty oxygen relief valve on the Atlas V rocket that was set to send the Starliner capsule into space. The valve was «buzzing,» or opening and closing rapidly, during the launch countdown, Space.com reported.

The Atlas V rocket was created by the United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. 

NASA says the mission will take the astronauts to the International Space Station for a little over a week, to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems. The testing is the final step in certifying the Starliner for repeat use in transport missions to and from the ISS. Once it finally launches, the Starliner should reach the ISS approximately 26 hours after launch.

This is the first new spacecraft to head to the ISS since the SpaceX Demo-2 made the same voyage back in 2020. The Boeing Starliner started life in 2010, when it was selected by NASA to be the next reusable transport to the ISS.

«The arrival of a brand-new vehicle, the first crewed flight of a new-generation spacecraft, is a really big deal,» said Michael Barratt, one of seven residents of the ISS. «You leave nothing to chance.»

A mission 14 years in the making

The Starliner was initially conceived as a commercial effort to take more people into space. In 2014, NASA tapped Boeing and SpaceX, and chose Starliner to be one of the first privately constructed spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to the ISS. NASA wanted to lean more on private business to build and maintain such spacecraft, instead of performing all the work itself. 

Test flights were delayed for several reasons, ranging from unfavorable weather conditions to problems with software. Tests were pushed back in 2019 and again in 2021, and eventually were delayed till 2022. 

The unmanned test flight finally launched on May 19 of that year, with the mission wrapping up a week later. It was a huge win for the Boeing crew, since it opened the doors for a crewed mission to the space station. NASA was pretty pumped about it as well. But the crewed launch was pushed back because of various problems, including some with the Atlas V rocket that’s presenting the problem with the 2024 launch.

The spacecraft is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is connected to its Artemis and moon to Mars plans. 

How to watch the Boeing Starliner launch — eventually

NASA had planned to livestream Monday’s event on its YouTube channel, with commentary by Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smit. The direct video link is here, but of course the livestream is on hold until it happens.

Other YouTube channels had also planned to livestream the event, including SpaceX, Space.com’s VideoFromSpace channel and the Associated Press YouTube channel. We’ll update this story, and the video links, when a new launch date and time are announced.

CNET’s Gael Cooper contributed to this article.

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Don’t Make These Mistakes When Recycling Paper and Cardboard

There are some cases where you shouldn’t toss your boxes straight into a recycling bin. We’ll explain.

Are you recycling your cardboard boxes? If you’re like me, you always have a ton of boxes from receiving weekly meal kits or having lazy pizza nights. You might toss them into a recycling bin and never think about them again. But not all boxes and paper can be recycled.

Here’s an example: the pizza boxes you’ve been «recycling» are actually getting thrown away by employees at the recycling center (more below). The same goes for the glossy wrapping paper you thought would be fine to put into the paper recycling. 

According to the St. Charles County recycling center, 1 billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown in the trash annually, in the US alone. I spoke with some recycling experts and here’s what I found about the right way to recycle paper and cardboard.

How to recycle cardboard

There’s a right way to recycle your paper and cardboard. For example, you can recycle an Amazon box, but not a greasy pizza box. This is because the oils from the pizza saturate the cardboard, making it unrecyclable. It’s not completely impossible to recycle contaminated boxes. A recycling center employee told CNET to cut out the part of the cardboard that has residue on it. You can place the soiled partin your compost bin.

Before you bring the cardboard to your nearest recycling center or put it in a bin for pickup, break the boxes down so that they’re lying flat. This helps make more room in the bin and helps the recycling team to easily put the cardboard into their processing machines. Also, remove all contents from the inside, like bubble wrap.

Also, if you’re placing cardboard into a recycling bin without a lid, make sure it’s covered in case it rains. Wet cardboard can clog up the machines, causing an entire batch of cardboard to become contaminated.

If possible, remove the tape from the boxes before taking the cardboard to the recycling center, as well. Saving the employees a step can help make the recycling process more efficient.

The Environmental Protection Agency suggests checking with your local recycling provider for the proper way to recycle cardboard to ensure you’re following their standards.

How to recycle paper

Just like cardboard, there are certain types of paper you shouldn’t recycle. For example, the paper towel you used to wipe up spilled milk or gift wrap with a glossy finish. The EPA recommends looking for paper that has already been recycled when you go shopping so you know that the paper can be recycled again. 

When it comes time to recycle the paper you’ve used, avoid getting it wet as it reduces the value in the recycling market. Instead, keep it separate from other recyclables, like anything that could leak liquid. Also, wait until the morning of pickup to take the paper out to the curb if your bin doesn’t have a lid to prevent it from becoming wet due to rain.

Also, many recycling companies won’t accept shredded paper because it can get stuck in the machinery, so avoid shredding your paper. Instead, if there are confidential documents you want to recycle, like bank statements, use a marker to mark out important information.

What else can I do?

Recycling is one way to help reduce waste, but there are other ways to prevent it in the first place.

  • Limit your use of paper.
  • Reuse cardboard boxes or donate them to someone who will use them — for example, someone who’s moving.
  • See if the companies sending you boxes will take them back for reuse.
  • Reuse gift bags and tissue paper, and consider using paper gift wrap.
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The Boeing Starliner Is Finally Taking People Into Space: How to Watch the Launch Tonight

The Starliner’s first crewed launch is more than a decade in the making.

The Boeing Starliner started life in 2010, when it was selected by NASA to be the next reusable transport to the International Space Station. It took well over a decade, but Starliner is finally set to make its first crewed voyage to the ISS on Monday night, and you can watch it happen.

NASA scheduled the launch for 10:34 p.m. ET/7:34 p.m. PT on May 6 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral. The Starliner will launch with an Atlas V rocket that was created by the United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Traveling with the Starliner are astronauts Sunita (Suni) Williams and Barry (Butch) Wilmore. 

NASA says the missions will take the astronauts to the ISS for a little over a week to test the Starliner spacecraft and its subsystems before returning to Earth. The testing is the final step in certifying the Starliner for repeat use in transport missions to and from the ISS. If everything goes according to plan, the Starliner should reach the ISS approximately 26 hours after launch.

This is the first new spacecraft to head to the ISS since the SpaceX Demo-2 made the same voyage back in 2020. 

«The arrival of a brand-new vehicle, the first crewed flight of a new-generation spacecraft is a really big deal,» said Michael Barratt, one of seven residents of the ISS. «You leave nothing to chance.»

A mission 14 years in the making

The Starliner was initially conceived as a commercial effort to take more people into space. In 2014, NASA tapped Boeing and SpaceX, and made the Starliner one of the first privately constructed spacecraft to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA wanted to lean more on private business to build and maintain such spacecraft instead of performing all of the work by itself. 

Starliner had to learn how to walk before it could run, however. Initial test flights were delayed for several reasons, ranging anywhere from unfavorable weather conditions to software issues. The unmanned test flights were delayed again in 2021 and eventually pushed back to 2022 for myriad reasons. 

The unmanned test flight finally launched on May 19, 2022, and completed its mission a week later. It was a huge win for the Boeing crew since that opened the doors for a crewed mission to the ISS. NASA was pretty pumped about it as well. But that launch was pushed back due to various issues, including some with the Atlas V rocket that would be responsible for launching the Starliner. 

The delays are over now, and the rocket is ready for launch. 

How to watch the Boeing Starliner launch

NASA is livestreaming the event from its YouTube channel. The direct video link is here. NASA will begin coverage at 5:45 p.m. ET this evening and broadcast through the launch with commentary by Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith. 

Some other YouTube channels will also livestream the event, including SpaceX, Space.com’s VideoFromSpace channel and the Associated Press YouTube channel. There are several others as well, so surf YouTube for Starliner livestreams, and pick the one you like best.  

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