Technologies

NASA Astronaut Snaps Knockout Views of Flower Moon in Full Bloom

The full moon is an ethereal lantern dancing with Earth in NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers’ snapshots from the International Space Station.

Spring is popping in the northern hemisphere and the full flower moon joined in on the seasonal celebrations on May 12. Skywatchers on the ground were treated to a glowing disk of light. NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers enjoyed the view from a different vantage point — way up on the International Space Station.

Ayers shared three images of the moon at full strength.

«I’m still in awe of our view of the world and beyond,» she said on X. «Today was the flower moon and it did not disappoint!»

The first image features our blue planet dappled with clouds. The moon hovers in the corner with the dark maria (Latin for «seas») impact basins stretching like shadows across its surface. It’s a poetic image highlighting the close relationship between Earth and its only natural satellite.

Ayers’ next image tells a different story. The moon is a tiny dot below an upside-down Earth riddled with clouds. Parts of the space station poke out from the bottom of the view.

It goes to show how direction doesn’t matter much on the ISS. Earth can be either above or below you depending on your chosen perspective in orbit.

The final shot is an ode to distance. The moon orbits at an average of about 239,000 miles from Earth. It looks every bit that far away in the photo. Our planet is a watery, cloudy hulk with the dainty full moon shining like a remote beacon.

Ayers is part of the SpaceX Crew-10 mission that arrived at the ISS in March to relieve the so-called «stranded astronauts» Sunita «Suni» Williams and Barry «Butch» Wilmore. This is Ayers’ first visit to the ISS.

Ayers has been dedicating some of her public outreach efforts to astrophotography. The moon photos show off her artistic eye.

«These were shot from a few different lenses for perspective,» she said. «I love how you can see the texture in the clouds and on the moon itself.»

The May full moon is known by the «flower moon» nickname.

«Many cultures refer to May’s full moon as the flower moon thanks to the abundant blooming that occurs as spring gets going properly,» the Royal Museums Greenwich said in an explainer. «Other names include the hare moon, the corn planting moon and the milk moon.»

We can’t all be Katy Perry and catch a ride to space, but at least we have Ayers’ views of the full moon to bring the astronaut’s perspective on the celestial show to us on Earth. It’s a beauty whether you’re down on the ground or up in orbit.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

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 NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times 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 the 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: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Greedily control.

Green group: Toothed wheels.

Blue group: Portmanteaux.

Purple group: Bull ____.

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 greedily control. The four answers are bogart, corner, hog and monopolize.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is toothed wheels. The four answers are cog, gear, pinion and sprocket.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is portmanteaux. The four answers are blog, motel, smog and spork.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is bull ____. The four answers are dog, doze, frog and horn.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #742

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 15, No. 742.

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 fun and timely, relating to a certain big ceremony held this weekend. 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: Best of all

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: The envelope, please.

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:

RATE, RATED, DATE, DOTE, DATED, DOTED, GATE, GATES, TROD, TRODS

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: