Technologies

NASA Admits Fault in Starliner Test Flight, Classifies It as ‘Type A’ Mishap

Remember the astronauts who were stranded in space for months? NASA says it’s close to identifying the «true technical root cause» of the spaceship malfunctions.

NASA has been investigating the now-infamous Boeing Starliner incident since the story dominated headlines in late 2024 and early 2025. The Starliner suffered malfunctions that stranded now-retired astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore for months. The agency has now released a report on what happened, taking responsibility for its role in the mission’s failure.

«The Boeing Starliner spacecraft has faced challenges throughout its uncrewed and most recent crewed missions,» said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a NASA blog post on Thursday. «While Boeing built Starliner, NASA accepted it and launched two astronauts into space. The technical difficulties encountered during docking with the International Space Station were very apparent.»

NASA has now labelled the mission a «Type A mishap,» which is defined as a «total direct cost of mission failure and property damage greater than $2 million or more,» or where «crewed aircraft hull loss has occurred.» Both of those apply to the Starliner, which has cost the agency $4.2 billion to date.

Isaacman also released a letter addressed to all NASA employees on X. The letter outlined various issues with the mission, including a «prior OFT thruster risk that was never fully understood,» disagreements among leadership about Williams and Wilmore’s return options, and the agency’s delay in declaring the mission a failure, despite its high-profile nature clearly showing it was.

These sentiments were echoed in NASA’s press conference on Thursday.

NASA has committed to working with Boeing to make the Starliner launch-worthy again and has been investigating technical issues and addressing them since the mishap early last year. Isaacman admitted at the press conference that the «true technical root cause» of the malfunctions still hasn’t been identified, but NASA believes it is close to identifying it.

«We’re not starting from zero here,» Isaacman told a reporter during the press conference. «We’re sharing the results of multiple investigations that will be coming to light in the hours and days ahead. Boeing and NASA have been working to try and understand these technical challenges during that entire time period.»

A malfunction to remember

The crewed Starliner flight was delayed several times before finally launching on June 5, 2024. The crew experienced malfunctions en route to the ISS, including several thruster failures, which made docking particularly stressful.

The Starliner’s return was delayed by two weeks before finally being sent home without Wilmore and Williams, who were left stranded on the ISS until returning with Crew-9 in March 2025.

The Starliner’s story is far from over. NASA and Boeing intend to send the Starliner back to the ISS in an uncrewed resupply mission with a launch date currently set for April 2026.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Tuesday, April 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 7.

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? 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: Informative commercial, for short
Answer: PSA

4A clue: Something you trace to draw a Thanksgiving turkey
Answer: HAND

5A clue: ___ Johnson, former Prime Minister of the U.K.
Answer: BORIS

6A clue: Opposite of include
Answer: OMIT

7A clue: Crosses (out)
Answer: XES

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: City with the Notre-Dame Cathedral
Answer: PARIS

2D clue: Bad mood
Answer: SNIT

3D clue: About eight minutes of the average half-hour sitcom
Answer: ADS

4D clue: Remote worker’s office, perhaps
Answer: HOME

5D clue: Word that can follow each group of circled letters (and hints at its shape)
Answer: BOX

Technologies

NASA’s Artemis II Breaks Record With Trip Around The Moon

Technologies

In Honor of the Artemis II Mission, Explore the Moon in Fortnite Now

You might not be able to see the moon the way the Artemis II team is, but there’s an educational Fortnite simulation that will get you onto the celestial body’s surface.

You may not be able to explore the vast majesty of space in the same way that the four-person crew of the Artemis II is, but you can still get an up-close-and-personal view of the moon… in Fortnite, at least.

While you may not be able to slingshot around Earth’s own lunar body, space enthusiasts can see a little bit of what the Artemis II crew is seeing by spending time on the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map right now. The map is a creative collaboration between Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, and the European Space Agency. Lunar Horizons was released in 2024 after extensive testing and play from ESA trainee astronauts.

If you’re looking to learn more about our own orbiting body, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of the surface of the moon’s South Pole.

It blends game mechanics with learning, as players get to build up their own sterile lunar habitat bases, interact with ESA astronauts and roll around with robotic rovers as they discover informative plaques that contain information about the moon and international space agencies. There are still dangers to navigate, too — a solar storm may strike when you least expect it.

If you’re interested in exploring the moon, we’ve got all the information you need to join in on the Fortnite fun below. And if you’re looking for a more serious livestream during this momentous human achievement, tune into NASA’s feed here.

How to join the Moon Fortnite island while you follow the Artemis II mission

The Lunar Horizons Fortnite map is a great educational simulation that shares details about ESA’s work and catalogs information about humanity’s lunar research.

These three simple steps will get you up and running (or more accurately, taking slow leaps and bounds) on the surface of the Lunar Horizons Fortnite map:

Download Fortnite

If you haven’t played Fortnite before, but you want to check out this limited-time event, you’ll have to download the game. If you’re on PC, you can download Fortnite for free from the Epic Games Store. Console players can navigate the PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store or Nintendo eShop in order to download Fortnite on their devices.

Navigate the in-game menus until you reach the Search button

Once you’re in the game, scroll down past the different official Fortnite game modes and the Discover tab until you find the Search button.

Input the Lunar Horizons island code

In the search bar, you can input a map’s name or its distinct search code in order to find it in the map directory. You can search for the Lunar Horizons map or input the code 3207-0960-6428 to explore this map in time.

Correction, 3:35 p.m. PT: This story initially was in error about the features available in the Lunar Horizons map. There is no Artemis II-specific mission in Fortnite. Rather, the Lunar Horizons map is an educational simulation of part of the moon’s surface.