Technologies

NASA Sent 3 Drones to Death Valley to Prepare for Travel to Mars

Teams were subject to Death Valley’s extreme heat, with temperatures reaching to over 110 degrees Fahrenheit.

NASA hit a snag last year when the Ingenuity Mars helicopter crashed on the Red Planet. The space agency concluded that the crash was caused by the vehicle’s inability to discern flat ground from featureless sand dunes. To avoid such a hiccup in the future, a team of NASA scientists recently descended upon Death Valley, California, to brave the heat and test a team of research drones over similar featureless areas.

«Ingenuity was designed to fly over well-textured terrain, estimating its motion by looking at visual features on the ground,» said Roland Brockers, a NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory drone pilot and researcher. «But eventually it had to cross over blander areas where this became hard. We want future vehicles to be more versatile and not have to worry about flying over challenging areas like these sand dunes.»

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It’s not the first time NASA has taken a field trip to the hottest place on Earth. The agency has used Death Valley since the 1970s to test various technologies in preparation for journeys to Mars. This time around, the team was testing Extended Robust Aerial Autonomy software, an autonomous flight system designed to handle a greater range of terrains on Mars. This would prevent another Ingenuity-style incident involving future explorers.

The team had to endure temperatures that reached a maximum of around 113 degrees Fahrenheit, with only a small pop-up tent to shield them from the intense sun and heat. While NASA has used Death Valley for testing for decades, the JPL team that went in 2025 was only the third team ever to obtain a license to fly research drones at Death Valley.

Death Valley officials were only too happy to accommodate the researchers.

«It’s a powerful reminder that the park is protected not just for its scenic beauty, but as a living laboratory that actively helps us understand desert environments,» said Death Valley National Park Superintendent Mike Reynolds.

Useful findings

All of this testing took place in April and September, so NASA has had some time to review the data and determine what worked. According to the agency, the findings showed that different camera filters were effective for various types of terrain, and the improved algorithms enabled drones to descend and land more safely.

In addition to Death Valley, the team also took their drones to the Dumont Dunes area of the Mojave Desert, renowned for its massive sand dunes, which are a popular spot for off-road recreational vehicles, sandboarding and sand sledding. It’s also noted for its variety of dune formations, providing NASA’s JPL team with more data to test against.

There are currently no named missions that are set to send a helicopter back to Mars, but NASA and the European Space Agency are developing two mini-Ingenuity helicopters that may one day help return all the samples dutifully collected by the Perseverance Mars rover on its journeys across Mars. Those helicopters will undoubtedly utilize the technology that was tested and improved during NASA’s field trip to Death Valley.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 16, #539

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 16, No. 539.

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.

Did you spot «fried» and «rice» in today’s Connections: Sports Edition and look for a food category? Ha ha ha … me too, but it would never be that easy. 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: Send it my way!

Green group hint: Hope you win your league.

Blue group hint: Bronx Bombers.

Purple group hint: Signal-callers.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Pass.

Green group: Descriptors for fantasy leagues.

Blue group: New York Yankees.

Purple group: First names of NFL starting QBs.

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 pass. The four answers are assist, dish, distribute and give.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is descriptors for fantasy leagues. The four answers are dynasty, keeper, redraft and rotisserie.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is New York Yankees. The four answers are Fried, Gil, Judge and Rice.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is first names of NFL starting QBs. The four answers are Baker, Drake, Jordan and Lamar.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, March 16

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 16.

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? I started slow, because 1-Across stumped me, but the rest of the answers came quickly. Read on for all 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: Blues, e.g.
Answer: MUSIC

6A clue: Late actress Catherine of «Schitt’s Creek»
Answer: OHARA

7A clue: List included with a board game
Answer: RULES

8A clue: April Fools’ shenanigan
Answer: PRANK

9A clue: Greek god of the underworld
Answer: HADES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Transform gradually
Answer: MORPH

2D clue: «Star Trek» officer portrayed by Zoe Saldaña
Answer: UHURA

3D clue: Greens, e.g.
Answer: SALAD

4D clue: Woman’s name that’s an anagram of ERNIE
Answer: IRENE

5D clue: Containers for reds and whites
Answer: CASKS

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for March 16 #743

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for March 16, No. 743.

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 fun and easy one if you love college basketball, and a certain big event that’s about to begin. 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: The Big Dance.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Tourney time

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:

MARK, BRACK, RACK, RACKS, CADS, CRAM, MOVE, MUTE

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: