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NASA readies the X-59 for its first supersonic flight, SpaceXs Starship grounded and more science stories – Engadget

This week, NASA shared more information about its planned moon base missions, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket exploded on the launchpad and the James Webb Space Telescope spotted a supermassive black hole that researchers say “may have formed within the first second after the big bang.” But first, we have updates on NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research plane and SpaceX’s Starship following last week’s test flight. Catch up here on this week’s science news.

Key test flights proach for NASA’s quiet supersonic plane

Over the last decade, NASA has been developing an aircraft that could one day reach supersonic speeds — or travel faster than the speed of sound — without producing the thunderous sonic booms typically associated with this feat. The plane, called the X-59, took its first ever flight back in October and has conducted several more in the months since. Now, NASA says it’s ready to go supersonic. The X-59 is scheduled to take its first supersonic flight, hitting over 630 mph at an altitude of about 43,000 feet, in early June, according to the space agency.

Then, in a followup “mission conditions” test, it will reach 925 mph (Mach 1.4) at about 55,000 feet. After that, it’ll go for its max speed: Mach 1.6, or 1,218 mph, at an altitude of 60,000 feet. NASA isn’t ready to show off the X-59’s quiet supersonic cabilities yet, though. For this phase of testing, NASA noted in a blog post, “The X-59 will be accompanied by a traditional supersonic chase plane, so any quiet thump it produces in the current phase of testing will be obscured by louder, traditional sonic booms from the chase.”

FAA grounds Starship after ‘mish’

SpaceX’s Starship V3 launched for the first time last week in a test flight that achieved much of what the company set out to do. But, it wasn’t entirely without hiccups, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has since ordered a pause on Starship flights while it investigates what went wrong and prevented the Super Heavy booster from making a soft splashdown as intended.

The issue arose after Starship separated from Super Heavy. “Following stage separation, the Super Heavy booster performed a directional flip maneuver and attempted its boostback burn,” SpaceX explained in a blog post following the launch. “It was unable to light all planned engines and performed a partial boostback burn that ended early. Super Heavy attempted to reignite its engines for the landing burn before experiencing a hard splashdown in the Gulf of America.” Starship went on to complete its journey and splashed down at the planned site in the Indian Ocean.

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 22, 2026

“After a thorough assessment of the operation, the FAA has determined the May 22 SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch resulted in a mish,” the agency said in a statement released this week. “The mish involved the Super Heavy booster as it flew back to the Gulf of America after stage separation. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property.” It added, “The FAA is requiring SpaceX to conduct a mish investigation. The FAA will oversee the SpaceX-led investigation, be involved in every step of the process, and prove SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions.”

It’s not an uncommon move on the FAA’s part, and SpaceX has faced several such groundings over the years, many of which have been wrped up fairly quickly. It likely won’t be very long before we see Starship back in action. “A return to flight of the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mish does not affect public safety,” the FAA noted in its statement.

The FAA grounded SpaceX competitor Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket last month following its third mission, and it was just cleared earlier this week to resume flights. But, during a hotfire test on Friday, New Glenn exploded on the launch pad at Ce Canaveral. You can read more about that below.

Before you go, be sure to check out these stories too:

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Today's Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for May 31, #1807

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer?Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’sWordle puzzleis very tricky. It’s an unusual word unless you’re a musician, and it repeats a letter. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’sWordleanswer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels, but one is repeated, so you will see that one twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with E.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with E.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a short musical composition designed to help a musician practice a skill.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is ETUDE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

The Wordle answer yesterday, May 30, No. 1,806, was SMILE.

Recent Wordle answers

May 26, No. 1,802: COUCH

May 27, No. 1,803: STUFF

May 28, No. 1,804: DIVOT

May 29, No. 1,805: CLANG

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Oscar-winning Star Wars editor Marcia Lucas has died – Engadget

Marcia Lucas, who edited ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Return of the Jedi,’ has died at 80.

Star Wars

“Her work was known for its emotional intelligence, rhythm, and humanity — a rare ability to find the truth of a scene and bring heart, momentum, and clarity to the screen,” her family said in a statement.

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Today's NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, May 30

Looking forthe most recentMini 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.

When solved, today’s Mini Crossword ends up with a colorful grid, with the color reflecting two of the clues. Read on for all of 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 visitCNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

The completed NYT Mini Crossword puzzle for May 30, 2026.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: It’s always greener on the other side of the grid
Answer: GRASS

6A clue: 7-Eleven frozen drink
Answer: SLURPEE

8A clue: Getting a D or better
Answer: PASSING

9A clue: Sculpture or painting
Answer: ART

10A clue: Poker-playing animal in a classic painting
Answer: DOG

11A clue: High Life beers, e.g.
Answer: MILLERS

13A clue: Democratic political figure ___ Tanden
Answer: NEERA

14A clue: See 1-Across
Answer: GRASS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Blindingly obvious
Answer: GLARING

2D clue: Cattle ___ (Wild West thief)
Answer: RUSTLER

3D clue: Letters between “cues” and “esses”
Answer: ARS

4D clue: They spend a lot of time on the web
Answer: SPIDERS

5D clue: Married women, in Madrid
Answer: SENORAS

6D clue: Text that gets the reply “STOP,” say
Answer: SPAM

7D clue: Stle grocery purchase
Answer: EGGS

12D clue: Broadway star ___ Michele
Answer: LEA

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Today's NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 30 #818

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 NYTStrandspuzzle was a bit challenging. Some of the answers are difficult to unscramble, and some are long, so if you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about therules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visitCNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is:We’ll be there

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Admirable traits

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:

REAL, TUNE, TUNED, GOOD, ROOD, GULR, GULP, PEWS, STUN, STUD

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:

LOYAL, CARING, HELPFUL, RELIABLE, TRUSTWORTHY

Today’s Strands spangram

The completed NYT Strands puzzle for May 30, 2026.

NYT/Screenshot by CNET

Today’s Strands spangram is GOODFRIENDS. To find it, start with the G that’s three letters down on the far left, and wind over and then down.

Tech

Today's NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 30, #1084

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 NYTConnections puzzleis a real challenge. You’ll need a good sense of musical history in order to solve the purple category. 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.

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: That’s not hpening.

Green group hint: Good plan!

Blue group hint: Editors use these.

Purple group hint: Music of the 1950s.