Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Privately-Built Moon Lander Makes History With Successful Touchdown
For the first time in over 50 years, America has landed on the moon, but not without some nail-biting moments. The Odysseus robotic lander, built by Intuitive Machines and carried into space on a SpaceX rocket, touched down on the surface of the moon around 6:23 PM ET last night, making it the first American spacecraft on the moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. It wasn’t as smooth as it might sound; just an hour before it was scheduled to land, a glitch developed in the lander’s onboard laser instruments designed to help it find a safe and hazard-free spot to touch down. Working quickly, scientists developed a software patch and uploaded it to repurpose one of the NASA science instruments aboard the lander to do the same job. Odysseus is carrying a mix of commercial cargo and NASA science instruments, and claimed another first as the first commercial venture to successfully land on the moon in history. The lander will spend the next week collecting data until lunar night blocks the sunlight from its solar panels and it loses power.
2 Sources Say Yesterday's AT&T Outage Caused By Software Update
The great cell phone service crisis of 2024 is over, but questions still remain about what made it happen. Late yesterday, AT&T announced that service had been restored to its entire network after hours of no service at all. The problems spread to affect other networks, including T-Mobile, Verizon, and others, but it was decided that most of the problems outside of the AT&T network were caused by users on other carriers trying to connect with the AT&T service. Thousands of people were left without the ability to even call 911 in an emergency, with iPhone owners finding their phone in “SOS” mode. There were many theories about what happened, ranging from solar flares to a cyberattack to aliens, but AT&T ended the suspense last night in a statement issued to ABC News saying that the outage was caused by “the application and execution of an incorrect process used as we were expanding our network.” Before the cause of the outage was determined, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security were investigating to figure out if the problem had been due to a cyberattack or hack. The Federal Communications Commission has also been in touch with AT&T to figure out what caused the outage.
3 Judge Denies Trump Request To Pause $354-Million Judgment
One judge ruled that former President Donald Trump had to pay $354-million in fines and almost $100-million in interest, and now the same judge has refused to give him more time to pay up. Telling the Trump legal team in an email that “You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay,” Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York State Supreme Court refused Trump’s request for a stay on payment of the fines. The former President has said he’ll appeal the ruling, but an appeal will require a bond be posted for the full amount of the judgement. Earlier this week, New York District Attorney Letitia James said that she’s prepared to ask a judge to “seize his assets” if he doesn’t have the cash to pay.