Photo Credit: SpaceX SpaceX Starship Flight 9 Reuses Booster, Gathers Key Data Despite Loss Highlights First reuse of Super Heavy booster marks key Starship milestone Ship reached space but failed to deploy dummy Starlink satellites Valuable reentry and tile test data collected despite stage losses Advertisement SpaceX launched its ninth Starship test flight on May 27 that featured the first-ever significant reuse of Starship hardware. As planned on Flight 9, Starship's two stages separated successfully, and the upper stage even reached space. However, both were ultimately lost before completing their objectives. Despite these setbacks, the mission yielded valuable data which inspires SpaceX's iterative approach to innovation as it aims to create a fully reusable launch system for space missions. This test flight exhibited successful reuse of a Super Heavy booster and aimed to demonstrate improved hardware performance.Previous test flightsAccording to official site of SpaceX, Starship's two stages are one giant booster called Super Heavy and a 171-foot-tall (52 meters) upper-stage spacecraft known as Starship, or simply "Ship." Both are powered by SpaceX's new Raptor engine — 33 of them for Super Heavy and six for Ship.On Flight 7 and Flight 8 the Super Heavy performed flawlessly, acing its engine burn and then returning to Starbase for a catch by the launch tower's "chopstick" arms. But Ship had problems: It exploded less than 10 minutes after launch on both missions, raining debris down on the Turks and Caicos Islands and The Bahamas, respectively.Advancements in flight 9In flight 9, SpaceX reused a Super Heavy booster for the first time, swapping out just four of its 33 Raptor engines after its initial flight in January. The booster also conducted a new atmospheric entry experiment, entering at a higher angle to collect data on aerodynamic control. Meanwhile, Ship (the upper stage) was tasked with deploying eight dummy Starlink satellites.Despite the promising advances, Flight 9 encountered several failures. Super Heavy broke apart roughly six minutes after launch during its return burn, and Ship lost control due to a fuel tank leak. The upper stage began tumbling, which prevented a planned in-space engine relight and led to a destructive reentry over the Indian Ocean. Still, SpaceX gained critical data, particularly on tile performance and active cooling systems.   For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube. Further reading: SpaceX, Starship, Super Heavy, Starship Flight 9, Elon Musk, Rocket Reuse, Raptor Engine, Space Launch, Space Innovation, Starlink, Reusable Rocket Gadgets 360 Staff The resident bot. If you email me, a human will respond. More Related Stories

May 29, 20255 min readSpaceX’s Starbase Is Officially a City. Some Neighbors Aren’t ThrilledStarbase, SpaceX’s launch site turned company town in South Texas, faces local opposition from residents outside the city limitsBy Paola Rosa-Aquino edited by Lee BillingsSpaceX rockets stand near the end of a neighborhood street in the company’s Starbase launch complex in this photograph from October 2021. Starbase was officially incorporated as a city of Cameron County, Texas in May 2025. Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBefore SpaceX’s Starship lost control and exploded over the Indian Ocean during its ninth test flight, the 400-foot-tall megarocket blasted off from Texas’s newest city.Starbase, situated on 1.5 square miles of the Lone Star State’s southernmost tip in the Rio Grande Valley, is mostly made up of SpaceX employees living on company-owned property and abuts a habitat for endangered wildlife, as well as a public beach.Starbase serves as the main testing and launch location for Starship, SpaceX’s planned fully reusable spacecraft, which is meant to revolutionize human and uncrewed space travel with its gargantuan payload capacity and rapid-fire flight cadence. If Starship’s development proceeds as planned, the megarocket could soon be ferrying crew and cargo alike to multiple otherworldly destinations—such as the lunar surface, for NASA’s Artemis program, and Mars, in fulfillment of SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s long-stated dream. But nearby residents worry about less glamorous local effects, fearing that a town built around the space company could continue SpaceX’s alleged pattern of polluting the area and blocking access to the nearby beach and other open public spaces.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.“SpaceX has already proven itself to be an extremely bad neighbor,” says Christopher Basaldú, an anthropologist and environmentalist and co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, who lives in nearby Brownsville, Tex. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Long before it was Starbase, the area’s beaches, tidal flats and wetlands were of great significance to the Indigenous Carrizo/Comecrudo people (or Esto’k Gna in their own language). Many of them still live nearby as members of the modern-day Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. Today the area is largely Latino and among the poorest in the country. Musk’s space company began buying up property there in 2012; ever since company housing and rocket-related infrastructure have steadily sprouted.“We’ve grown quite a bit just in the last couple of years. It’s a couple hundred employees [and] their families, living amongst actual rockets,” said Daniel Huot, a SpaceX communications manager, during a company livestream before Tuesday’s Starship test flight.Huot added that the move to incorporate what was formerly Boca Chica Village as Starbase will help the company “scale more quickly [to] try to build out the best community possible for all the people that are building the future of humanity’s place in space.”Even before SpaceX began launching rockets at the site, neighbors complained about potential environmental woes stemming from the company’s operations. In a 2018 press conference, Musk dismissed such concerns, saying “We’ve got a lot of land with no one around, and so if [a rocket] blows up, it’s cool.”The first launch of the 40-story-tall Starship vehicle in April 2023 didn’t entirely proceed as planned—it blew up the concrete launch pad and left a literal crater behind. Particulate debris, as well as concrete and steel shrapnel from the botched launch, scattered far and wide across the surrounding landscape, igniting fires and slamming into protected habitats and public beaches. Ash, dust and sand grains hurled aloft by this first Starship flight test rained down as far out as Port Isabel, Tex., about five miles from the launch site.Local environmentalists have also sounded the alarm on how the company’s activities at Starbase could increase chemical and sonic pollution that puts migratory birds and other vulnerable endangered species in the area at greater risk.Despite these brewing tensions, Starbase was incorporated in early May, making it the first new city in Cameron County, Texas, in 30 years.Only people who live in the immediate area—almost all of them SpaceX employees—were eligible to vote for the new city. Residents voted 212 for and six against. The city’s mayor and commissioners—all current or former SpaceX employees—ran unopposed. “Now [SpaceX has] stolen away not only a neighborhood but the land around it, which had been basically environmentally untouched areas,” says Basaldú, who is a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe.Starbase’s boundaries snake along State Highway 4, which provides the only access to both Starbase and the open-to-the-public Boca Chica Beach. A bill pending in the Texas Legislature would shift control over weekday closures of the beach and nearby roadways from the county commissioners to Starbase city leaders now that Starbase is a municipality under law.“As a community, we were there first,” says Suquiery Santillana, a resident of nearby Brownsville, Tex., who has visited Boca Chica Beach since childhood. “I’m almost 50, and now my grandkids are going.” Her family’s trips to the isolated shoreline now include wide-eyed roadside spectators from all across the country who want to catch a glimpse of the SpaceX launch site. While Santillana is happy that SpaceX has brought jobs to the area, she would like the company to communicate more about upcoming closures and launch plans with locals.Members of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe also trace their creation story to this once-pristine beach. The intermittent access restrictions imposed by SpaceX’s launches, some tribe members say, limit them from freely participating in traditions such as fishing and tribal ceremonies that have been taking place on their ancestral land for thousands of years.Activity at the site could soon ramp up even more. On May 22 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced it had granted approval for SpaceX to increase the annual number of Starbase launches from five to 25. Eventually, Starship flights from the site could far exceed that because the vehicle is designed for very fast turnaround times and an unprecedentedly high launch cadence. Starship’s sheer size, coupled with more frequent launches, could balloon Starbase’s overall environmental footprint while also essentially shutting down Highway 4 for much of the year. The FAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.For now, Starbase is poised to continue its rapid development and expansion, with plans in the works for more housing, offices and rocket launch facilities. Jim Chapman of the local environmental justice nonprofit Save RGV (Rio Grande Valley) worries that Starbase’s incorporation could allow SpaceX to skirt important regulatory hurdles. “[SpaceX has] fewer layers of bureaucracy that [it has] to go through and get approval from,” he says. “But on the other hand, I haven’t really seen the county denying [it] anything.”As SpaceX vies to fly ever more powerful rockets in pursuit of Musk’s interplanetary aspirations, local residents also fear that the company’s launch activity and its proximity to new natural gas projects could pose grave threats to Rio Grande Valley communities. One such project currently under construction is less than six miles from the launch site—too close for comfort, some critics say, given the possibility of volatile explosions sparked by showers of fiery rocket debris.If Musk’s latest projections are to be trusted (he often overpromises and underdelivers on meeting ambitious rocketry deadlines), additional Starship test flights will blast off from Starbase every few weeks for the rest of the summer. Time will tell if the company will be mindful of those who live next door.

Miley Cyrus has gone from Disney darling to music industry icon in a matter of two decades, and fans have watched in awe as the 32-year-old fine-tuned her sound in that time. Her anticipated ninth album, Something Beautiful, drops Friday, May 30, and rumor has it that the singer is considering getting back on tour. But where does Cyrus go when she needs to decompress? We’re breaking down her real estate portfolio below.Related StoriesA Starter Home in Studio City Courtesy of Google MapsCyrus bought her first property following the success of her third album, Can’t Be Tamed, in 2011. The five-bedroom, seven-bathroom ranch home was a $3.9 million investment and a strategic move, as the home is located in Studio City, just two miles outside Toluca Lake, where her family resided. Cyrus still owns the gated 4,948 square foot property that boasts modern design details, such as skylights and floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors. There are also relaxation-coded amenities: a saltwater pool, an at-home spa, and a yoga room on-site. A Horse Farm in Hidden HillsCourtsey of Google MapsYou can take the girl out of Tennessee, but you can’t take Tennessee out of the girl. Cyrus grew up on a farm in Nashville, and in 2015, the rising star bought a 5.5-acre horse ranch in Hidden Hills. Was the purchase a nod to her country roots? We like to think so. Cyrus bought the property for about $5.5 million. It boasted 6,000 square feet of living space and a one-acre riding ring. The main house featured five bedrooms, five and a half bathrooms, and a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, while its outdoor amenities included a pool, spa, fireplace, built-in barbeque, fruit and vegetable garden, plus a vineyard. A Mid-century Home in MalibuCourtsey of Google MapsCyrus’s hit song Malibu is an ode to the home she and Liam Hemsworth shared in the beachy city. Cyrus bought the 1,385 square-foot two-story humble abode for $2.5 million in 2016 and built a rainbow-colored recording studio on the property. It was surrounded by trees and tropical plants alike, giving it a private feel from the exterior, and an open floor plan for easy socializing indoors. Highlighted features of the home include high ceilings, glass doors leading out to the backyard, and a private balcony off the primary bedroom. Outdoor amenities were modest compared to Cyrus’s other properties and included a jacuzzi, gazebo, and two-car garage. A Farmhouse Ranch in TennesseeCourtsey of Google MapsIn 2017, Cyrus put down roots in her home state of Tennessee. The singer spent $5.8 million on the 33.5-acre property, which featured a 7,000 square-foot ranch-style main house, complete with a wrap-around porch, lofted ceilings, multiple fireplaces, and reclaimed wood flooring.A Mansion in Hidden HillsCourtsey of Team SorrentinoFollowing her split from Hemsworth in January 2020, Cyrus moved into a six-bedroom, six-bathroom mansion in Hidden Hills, paying roughly $5 million for her bachelorette pad. The artist teamed up with her mother and interior designer, Trish Cyrus, as well as designer Mat Sanders, to make the space feel more “Miley.” The finishing touches included a leopard-printed glam room, a psychedelic-themed music studio, and a Gucci tiger-wallpapered powder room. The premises also boast a lagoon-inspired swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen. A Manor in MalibuCourtsey of Google MapsCyrus made her return to Malibu in 2022 with her most expensive real estate purchase to date: a $7.9 million six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom mansion. The home was originally built in 1999 but has undergone renovations in recent years. The interior is refreshed with white paint and hardwood flooring, stone tile, a formal dining room, and a spacious living room complete with a fireplace and an adjacent billiard room. Outdoor entertainment includes a patio and a heated pool.Follow House Beautiful on Instagram and TikTok.

the fastest one 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 first drive: Engineered for insane speed Now that Chevrolet can fit turbos to the Corvette, it's gone and done just that. Michael Teo Van Runkle – May 30, 2025 10:00 am | 0 Chevrolet has given its latest Corvette variant a four-figure power output to go with a six-figure price tag. Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle Chevrolet has given its latest Corvette variant a four-figure power output to go with a six-figure price tag. Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Chevrolet provided flights from Los Angeles to Austin and accommodation so Ars could drive the ZR1. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. AUSTIN, Texas—By just my third lap in the top-spec 2025 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, I glanced down at the speedometer toward the end of the Circuit of the Americas' long back straight and spied 181 mph (291 km/h) displayed for a split second. Not bad for Chevy’s newest flagship sports car, especially given that the $174,995 ZR1’s twin-turbocharged V8 pumps all 1,064 horsepower to the rear wheels only. The US’s only purpose-built F1 track made for an excellent setting to taste Corvette’s latest; the ZR1 also commanded your attention while conquering the steep uphill toward the first corner, then winding through a series of challenging corners with plenty of elevation change. Luckily, the car itself is an engineering marvel, and Chevy brought along a team of engineers to explain exactly how the total package comes together to enable such a breathtaking pace, as well as how Chevy can responsibly sell such a powerful car to the general public at all. The entire point of switching the Corvette’s eighth generation to a mid-engine layout was to improve weight distribution and allow the Corvette to compete against much more exotic competition from European OEMs like Ferrari. The front-engined car's engine bay also lacked the width to add a pair of turbos, due to the suspension and tire orientation, which dictated the use of a supercharger that kept peak power to “just” 755 hp (563 kW) in the last Corvette to wear the ZR1 badge. It's a tight fit in there. Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle COTA reveals the ZR1's excellent balance, especially when specced with the optional aero package, carbon fiber wheels, and Michelin’s Cup 2 R tires. The tires—in effect, grooved slicks—allow for improved lateral acceleration but also the ability to consistently put the four-figure horsepower down to the asphalt. Yet Chevy’s engineers readily admitted the original target for ZR1 was just 850 hp (634 kW), until 1,000 came into sight and required some serious creativity to reach reliably. Biggest turbos ever The ZR1’s engine, dubbed LT7, shares much with the 5.5 L naturally aspirated LT6 engine in the less-powerful, cheaper Z06. It’s still a flat-plane crank with dry-sump oiling, even if clever eyes inspecting an LT6 might have noticed that the dry-sump oil tank allowed for the placement of turbos all along. The dual 74-millimeter turbos, the largest ever fitted to a production car, required new intake routing, and computer control of the wastegate actuation maintains an anti-lag boost of 6 to 7 psi even under a closed throttle. Turbo speed sensors allow the turbines to spin closer to maximum speed before the vanes physically break apart—a mechanical system typically needs to maintain a 7 percent margin of error, but the ZR1’s is more like 2–3 percent. That's a massive turbocharger, and there are two of them. Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle The eventual power output actually wound up breaking two of Chevrolet’s dynos during early testing, we're told. So the C8’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission also needed beefing up with physically wider gears that were shot-peened for additional strength, plus a revised lubrication system. The engine, meanwhile, creates enormous cooling demands when running at full throttle, which plays hand in hand with the downforce requirements of hitting such high speeds. Consequently, the ZR1 sacrifices its usable frunk in favor of a massive radiator, while the hood’s heat extractor also releases trapped air and feeds it over the roofline. This freed up more space for additional cooling via the front fascia, which further benefits from canard spat dive planes. On the sides, an additional inlet on the side strakes complements the enormously wide scoops that debuted on the Z06. Coupes then get a split rear window—which harks back to Corvettes of old, while releasing hot air from the engine bay—plus new shoulder NACA intakes that directly feed the air box with cooler oxygen that even creates a ram air effect akin to mild supercharging. Cooling for the ZR1 became an even higher priority, because the LT6 and LT7 employ extremely tight tolerances between the crankshaft and connecting rods, which mandates keeping the 5W-50 oil below 120° C (248° F) at all times. And the system simply works, as even on a hot and humid Texas day, I only noticed oil temperatures cresting above 104° C (220° F) occasionally. The interior is better than any prior generation of Corvette, but it feels prosaic compared to the cockpits of its more exotic mid-engined rivals. Michael Teo Van Runkle The interior is better than any prior generation of Corvette, but it feels prosaic compared to the cockpits of its more exotic mid-engined rivals. Michael Teo Van Runkle Lightweight carbon-fiber wheels are mounted with the stickiest road-legal tires Chevy could fit. Michael Teo Van Runkle Lightweight carbon-fiber wheels are mounted with the stickiest road-legal tires Chevy could fit. Michael Teo Van Runkle The ZR1 gets added cooling and more wings. Michael Teo Van Runkle The ZR1 gets added cooling and more wings. Michael Teo Van Runkle Lightweight carbon-fiber wheels are mounted with the stickiest road-legal tires Chevy could fit. Michael Teo Van Runkle The ZR1 gets added cooling and more wings. Michael Teo Van Runkle The hardtop convertible ZR1 lacks the split-engine venting and shoulder intakes, while cutting into headroom so much that I skipped out while wearing a helmet. Other journalists noticed a drop-off in performance for the convertibles, and probably more so than the mild weight gains of just about 100 lbs (45 kg) might suggest. Instead, temperatures probably came into play, as the ECU drew back timing and instead allowed mild overboost of 24–25 psi to compensate for the Texas day. Even so, an engineer admitted he thought the engine was probably down 5–10 percent on power. The fact that I hit my highest-ever top speed despite the ZR1 potentially giving up somewhere between 53 to 106 hp (40–80 kW) only makes this Corvettes sound even more insane. But I essentially wound up driving the turbos, since the DCT’s gear ratios carry over from the Stingray and therefore drop out of peak power when shifting from second to third and third to fourth. I suspect nothing short of an F1 racecar feels this fast on a circuit of this size. A track designed for corner exit speeds double my pace in the ZR1 helps explain why Chevrolet declined to set us loose on public roads behind the wheel. We drove it on track—will owners cope with this much power on the street? Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle That’s a concern for potential buyers, though, and why the ZR1’s electronics undoubtedly ratchet back the insanity. Chevy still uses Bosch’s ninth-generation traction control, which debuted on C7 and operates on a 10-millisecond loop, even if the ABS runs at 5 milliseconds—while the ESC is at 20 milliseconds. I suspect this computerized nannying slowed me down a fair amount, in addition to the torque-by-gear restrictions in first and second that purposefully protect driveline components. We’ve probably reached peak internal-combustion Corvette, which is something of a hint about the all-too-real question of where Chevy can go from here. If so, this car reaches a new level of unfathomable American ingenuity, combined with a newfound level of refinement and traction management that attempts to belie the undeniable absurdity to a minimal, arguably necessary, extent. 0 Comments

Science & technology | Third time unluckyElon Musk’s plans to go to Mars next year are toastSpaceX’s Starship fails for a third time in a rowPhotograph: Reuters May 28th 2025SPACEX’S NINTH test flight of its Starship launch system could be counted as an advance over the previous two, which lit up the Caribbean skies a couple of thousand kilometres down-range of their Texas launch site like spectacular fireworks. A second stage successfully turned off its engines after reaching space intact, but by the time it re-entered the atmosphere on the other side of the world it was clear that this was a third failure in a row.Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Starship fails again”From the May 31st 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contents⇒Explore the editionReuse this content

Starship’s ninth test flight took place on 27 MayJoe Marino/UPI/Shutterstock Another launch, another failure? With the ninth flight of SpaceX’s massive Starship rocket ending in the vehicle’s loss, questions are being asked about whether Elon Musk’s company can ever deliver on its promises to return people to the moon, launch new space stations and one day take astronauts to Mars. “I expected more progress from SpaceX by now,” says Laura Forczyk at space industry consultancy Astralytical. “It’s frustrating from an outsider’s perspective, because I’m rooting for them. So much of the space community is relying on…

Alongside the PS5 release of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, it looks like the game will also be getting a physical release through Limited Run Games. As caught by VGC, a listing for the game has popped up on the official website for ESRB which mentions that the game will be available through retailers like Best Buy, Walmart and Amazon. No official announcement has been made as of yet, and even Limited Run Games’ official website doesn’t yet list Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 as one of its upcoming releases. The links provided on the ESRB page also don’t have any mention of physical editions of the game. Rather, the links are simply search entries on the appropriate storefront, which currently only seem to have codes for the digital version of the game for Windows and Xbox Series X/S. Interestingly, the ESRB website also has a new listing for the original Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, once again being published by Limited Run Games, but this time around for the Nintendo Switch. Limited Run Games is known for partnering up with various game developers and publishers to release lavish physical releases. While these sometimes only feature a disc with the game, other times, there also tend to be physical goodies involved, like maps, art books, posters, and soundtrack CDs. A PS5 release for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was officially announced just last week after several rumours. The upcoming release will include new features that will also be brought in to the PC and Xbox Series X/S versions of the game with a free update. The title will also make use of some PS5-exclusive features, including haptic feedback through the DualSense controller, as well as visual enhancements for the PS5 Pro. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was originally released for PC and PS5 back in May 2024. The game puts players in the shoes of the eponymous Senua as she embarks on a quest to free her people in ninth-century Iceland. Shortly after its initial release, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 got a trailer showcasing all of the accolades it had gotten from the press. Ninja Theory studio head Dom Matthews had revealed last year that development on Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 hadn’t begun until the studio was done with working on its multiplayer title Bleeding Edge. This was despite the title having gotten its official announcement all the way back in 2019. “It’s been seven years since the last [Hellblade] game, but we’ve been working on it [Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2] for less time than that,” said Matthews. “When we announced it in 2019, we had that trailer, but that was really all we had on the game. Things weren’t developed beyond that point.” “We pushed to do that,” Matthews explained when asked how it felt to have the game announced alongside the console. “We were excited about the creative idea that we had around that.” For more details about Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, check out our review from back when it first came out last year.

The FAA last week cleared SpaceX's Starship to fly again after concluding its review of the previous flight, which ended in an explosion, and the next test could now take off as soon as Tuesday. SpaceX is eyeing May 27 for Starship's ninth flight test, with a launch window opening at 7:30PM ET (6:30PM local time for the Texas Starbase). This launch will mark the first time SpaceX reuses a Super Heavy booster; the booster for flight nine previously flew with Starship's seventh flight test earlier this year. While single-use parts have been replaced, SpaceX says it's reusing 29 of the booster's 33 Raptor engines. As always, viewers at home will be able to watch along by tuning into the livestream, starting about 30 minutes before Starship launches. That will be available on SpaceX's website and in a broadcast on its X profile. Watch Starship's ninth flight test → https://t.co/Gufroc2kUz https://t.co/NYF0ZMyeGp— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 23, 2025 SpaceX conducted Starship's eighth flight test back in March, but the vehicle ran into some issues a few minutes after launch. The Super Heavy booster was able to return to the launch site after separation from the upper stage and be successfully caught by the tower's "chopstick" arms, but as for the ship itself, several Raptor engines shut off, causing it to tumble and ultimately blow itself up.  SpaceX says the issue was likely due to "a hardware failure in one of the upper stage’s center Raptor engines that resulted in inadvertent propellant mixing and ignition." It's since made some changes to prevent that from happening again. SpaceX said in an update on May 22 that "engines on the Starship’s upper stage will receive additional preload on key joints, a new nitrogen purge system, and improvements to the propellant drain system."  For flight nine, the Super Heavy booster won't return to the launch site, but will instead splash down in the ocean. The Starship upper stage will attempt to deploy eight Starlink dummy satellites, and SpaceX is otherwise looking to this flight to test "several experiments focused on enabling Starship’s upper stage to return to the launch site."This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/how-to-watch-spacexs-ninth-starship-flight-test-on-tuesday-213424312.html?src=rss

So many unexplored secrets still lie at the outskirts of our solar system, where a potential candidate for a new dwarf planet lies. Although space beyond Neptune was thought to be mostly devoid of large objects, researchers are beginning to rethink this assumption after coming across an extraordinary trans-Neptunian object, called 2017 OF201. According to a recently published arXiv pre-print, 2017 OF201 could soon join the ranks of Pluto and other dwarf planets in the solar system. The behavior of its extremely large orbit has piqued the interest of astronomers, who now believe there may be plenty more objects just like it drifting through this remote part of space. Where are Dwarf Planets Located?Composite image showing the five dwarf planets recognized by the International Astronomical Union, plus the newly discovered trans-Neptunian object 2017 OF201. (Image Courtesy of: NASA/JPL Caltech; Sihao Cheng et al.)The Kuiper Belt, a region of the solar system past Neptune’s orbit, is likely home to hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of icy objects that vary in shape and size. Over 2,000 trans-Neptunian objects (TNO) have been observed here, but scientists believe that this figure doesn’t even scratch the surface of this area’s extraterrestrial riches. The most famous resident of the Kuiper Belt, without a doubt, is Pluto. Other dwarf planets have also been found in the area, such as Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. But why do Pluto and its fellow dwarf planets not enjoy the same status as the solar system’s eight regular planets? To officially be considered a planet, an object must follow three rules set by the International Astronomical Union in 2006: It must orbit a host star (like the Sun), be mostly round, and be large enough to clear away objects of a similar size near its orbit (in other words, it has to be “gravitationally dominant”). Dwarf planets like Pluto follow the first two rules, but they cannot “clear the neighborhood” near their orbits. The Extreme Orbit of 2017 OF201Scientists have been eager to uncover more TNOs in the Kuiper Belt, which is what led to the discovery of 2017 OF201. The object was identified based on bright spots in an astronomical image database from the Victor M. Blanco Telescope and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Assessing exposures over seven years, the researchers were led to 2017 OF201, which is one of the most distant visible objects in our solar system at this point. The most significant aspect of 2017 OF201 appears to be its extreme orbit. “The object’s aphelion — the farthest point on the orbit from the Sun — is more than 1600 times that of the Earth’s orbit,” said author Sihao Cheng of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ, in a press statement. “Meanwhile, its perihelion — the closest point on its orbit to the Sun — is 44.5 times that of the Earth’s orbit, similar to Pluto's orbit.”The researchers estimate the object’s diameter to be 700 km [about 435 miles], “which would make it the second largest known object in a wide orbit," according to the statement. Pluto’s diameter, for reference, is 2,377 km [about 1477 miles]. Mysteries of the Kuiper BeltThe object’s orbit, which takes around 25,000 years to complete, may be the result of an encounter with a larger planet that sent it far into space. The object also doesn’t show signs of clustering in a specific orientation, something commonly observed with other TNOs. Clustering has often been referenced as indirect evidence for the existence of a hypothetical ninth planet in the outer solar system (called Planet Nine or Planet X). But since 2017 OF201 doesn’t follow the same pattern as other TNOs, it may stand against this hypothesis. The researchers hope to gather more details on 2017 OF201 in future observations. The excitement doesn't stop at this object, since its discovery hints at an abundance of similar objects in the Kuiper Belt, still waiting to be observed.“2017 OF201 spends only 1 percent of its orbital time close enough to us to be detectable. The presence of this single object suggests that there could be another hundred or so other objects with similar orbit and size; they are just too far away to be detectable now,” said Cheng in a press release. “Even though advances in telescopes have enabled us to explore distant parts of the universe, there is still a great deal to discover about our own solar system.”Article SourcesOur writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:Earth and Planetary Astrophysics. Discovery of a dwarf planet candidate in an extremely wide orbit: 2017 OF201NASA. Kuiper Belt FactsNASA. Dwarf PlanetsJack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meet Cathy Tie, Bride of “China’s Frankenstein” Since the Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui was released from prison in 2022, he has sought to make a scientific comeback and to repair his reputation after a three-year incarceration for illegally creating the world’s first gene-edited children.One area of visible success on his come-back trail has been his X.com account. Over the past few years, his account has evolved from sharing mundane images of his daily life to spreading outrageous, antagonistic messages. This has left observers unsure what to take seriously.Last month, in reply to MIT Technology Review’s questions about who was responsible for the account’s transformation into a font of clever memes, He emailed us back: “It’s thanks to Cathy Tie.” Tie is no stranger to the public spotlight. A former Thiel fellow, she is a partner in a project which promised to create glow-in-the-dark pets. Over the past several weeks, though, the Canadian entrepreneur has started to get more and more attention as the new wife to He Jiankui. Read the full story. —Caiwei Chen & Antonio Regalado Anthropic’s new hybrid AI model can work on tasks autonomously for hours at a time Anthropic has announced two new AI models that it claims represent a major step toward making AI agents truly useful. AI agents trained on Claude Opus 4, the company’s most powerful model to date, raise the bar for what such systems are capable of by tackling difficult tasks over extended periods of time and responding more usefully to user instructions, the company says. They’ve achieved some impressive results: Opus 4 created a guide for the video game Pokémon Red while playing it for more than 24 hours straight. The company’s previously most powerful model was capable of playing for just 45 minutes. Read the full story. —Rhiannon Williams The FDA plans to limit access to covid vaccines. Here’s why that’s not all bad. This week, two new leaders at the US Food and Drug Administration announced plans to limit access to covid vaccines, arguing that there is not much evidence to support the value of annual shots in healthy people. New vaccines will be made available only to the people who are most vulnerable—namely, those over 65 and others with conditions that make them more susceptible to severe disease.The plans have been met with fear and anger in some quarters. But they weren’t all that shocking to me. In the UK, where I live, covid boosters have been offered only to vulnerable groups for a while now. And the immunologists I spoke to agree: The plans make sense. Read the full story. —Jessica Hamzelou This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotech newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Thursday, and read articles like this first, sign up here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Thousands of Americans are facing extreme weatherBut help from the federal government may never arrive. (Slate $)+ States struck by tornadoes and floods are begging the Trump administration for aid. (Scientific American $) 2 Spain’s grid operator has accused power plants of not doing their jobIt claims they failed to control the system’s voltage shortly before the blackout. (FT $)+ Did solar power cause Spain’s blackout? (MIT Technology Review) 3 Google is facing a DoJ probe over its AI chatbot dealIt will probe whether Google’s deal with Character.AI gives it an unfair advantage. (Bloomberg $)+ It may not lead to enforcement action, though. (Reuters) 4 DOGE isn’t bad news for everyoneThese smaller US government IT contractors say it’s good for business—for now. (WSJ $)+ It appears that DOGE used a Meta AI model to review staff emails, not Grok. (Wired $)+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? It’s complex. (MIT Technology Review)5 Google’s new shopping tool adds breasts to minorsTry it On distorts uploaded photos to clothing models’ proportions, even when they’re children. (The Atlantic $)+ It feels like this could have easily been avoided. (Axios)+ An AI companion site is hosting sexually charged conversations with underage celebrity bots. (MIT Technology Review) 6 Apple is reportedly planning a smart glasses product launchBy the end of next year. (Bloomberg $)+ It’s playing catchup with Meta and Google, among others. (Engadget)+ What’s next for smart glasses. (MIT Technology Review) 7 What it’s like to live in Elon Musk’s corner of TexasComplete with an ugly bust and furious locals. (The Guardian)+ West Lake Hills residents are pushing back against his giant fences. (Architectural Digest $) 8 Our solar system may contain a hidden ninth planetA possible dwarf planet has been spotted orbiting beyond Neptune. (New Scientist $) 9 Wikipedia does swag nowHow else will you let everyone know you love the open web? (Fast Company $) 10 One of the last good apps is shutting downMozilla is closing Pocket, its article-saving app, and the internet is worse for it. (404 Media)+ Parent company Mozilla said the way people use the web has changed. (The Verge) Quote of the day “This is like the Mount Everest of corruption.” —Senator Jeff Merkley protests outside Donald Trump’s exclusive dinner for the highest-paying customers of his personal cryptocurrency, the New York Times reports. One more thing The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility. What happened?On April 3, 2010, Steve Jobs debuted the iPad. What for most people was basically a more convenient form factor was something far more consequential for non-speakers: a life-­changing revolution in access to a portable, powerful communication device for just a few hundred dollars.But a piece of hardware, however impressively designed and engineered, is only as valuable as what a person can do with it. After the iPad’s release, the flood of new, easy-to-use augmentative and alternative communication apps that users were in desperate need of never came.Today, there are only around half a dozen apps, each retailing for $200 to $300, that ask users to select from menus of crudely drawn icons to produce text and synthesized speech. It’s a depressingly slow pace of development for such an essential human function. Read the full story. —Julie Kim We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet ’em at me.) + Dive into the physics behind the delicate frills of Tête de Moine cheese shavings.+ Our capacity to feel moved by music is at least partly inherited, apparently.+ Kermit the frog has delivered a moving commencement address at the University of Maryland.+ It’s a question as old as time: are clowns sexy?