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According to Rolling Stone, employees with the Federal Aviation Administration were told on Friday to begin finding tens of millions of dollars for a Starlink deal, after The Washington Post reported that the FAA may cancel its $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to overhaul the USs airspace management systems and go with Elon Musks company instead. Whether the FAA has actually dropped its Verizon deal in favor of Starlink has yet to be confirmed publicly. In a statement posted on X in response to the initial report last week, the FAA claimed its been considering the use of Starlink since the prior administration. Anonymous sources told Rolling Stone that the orders from FAA officials on Friday were delivered verbally to staff, in an unusual move. It comes a few days after Musk claimed on X that the situation around air traffic control communications is extremely dire, saying the existing system (which he wrongly attributed to Verizon before later adding a correction) is breaking down very rapidly. He went on to say that Starlink terminals are being sent at NO COST to the taxpayer on an emergency basis to restore air traffic control connectivity. Bloomberg, citing sources close to the matter, previously reported that 4,000 Starlink terminals were being sent to help upgrade the FAAs networks, which the FAA confirmed. As recently as Wednesday, though, the FAA said in statements to The Washington Post and other publications that it had not made a decision about its Verizon deal. The agency is one of many that has been hit by layoffs led by Musks DOGE over the last few weeks, with hundreds of FAA employees fired in February.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/faa-reportedly-ordered-staff-to-find-millions-of-dollars-to-fund-starlink-deal-205236985.html?src=rss
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Firefly Aerospaces first attempt at landing on the moon was a success. The company, which is working with NASA under the agencys Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, announced early Sunday morning that its Blue Ghost lander softly touched down on the moon, and its upright and communicating with the team back home. Blue Ghost landed at 3:34AM ET in a region known as Mare Crisium. While Fireflys lander isnt the first commercial spacecraft to land on the moon, it is the first to land properly Intuitive Machines Odysseus ended up on its side last year after a faster-than-planned descent. Blue Ghost and the NASA instruments its carrying are expected to remain in operation for about 14 Earth days. After that, lunar night will begin. If all goes as planned, the lander will capture images in the leadup to lunar night and a few hours after darkness falls, getting high-definition imagery of a total eclipse, the lunar sunset and other moments to document the behaviour of levitating lunar dust. NASA is also testing instruments that can drill and collect samples from the surface. Fireflys Blue Ghost Mission 1 launched on January 15 and reached lunar orbit about a month later. The team says its already sent over 27 GB of data back to Earth from its journey. Just through transit to the Moon, Fireflys mission has already delivered the most science data to date for the NASA CLPS initiative, Shea Ferring, Fireflys Chief Technology Officer, said in a statement, noting that the hardest part of the mission is over. On X, the company shared a photo showing the lander's shadow on the surface of the moon following its successful touchdown, and joked, The lander saw her shadow, 2 more weeks of ops!This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/fireflys-blue-ghost-lander-successfully-touched-down-on-the-moon-155728834.html?src=rss
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Practically every flagship phone can take a great picture. But that hasnt stopped Xiaomi from continuing its partnership with legendary camera maker Leica to produce a photo powerhouse in the new Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Powered by a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, it goes without saying that the Xiaomi 15 Ultra has top-notch specs. It also has a huge 6,000 mAh battery, which is bigger than anything you get from Apple, Google or Samsung. Meanwhile, when it comes to charging, wired speeds go up to 90 watts or just a tad slower at 80 watts wirelessly, which is no mean feat. And unlike most phones sold in the US, it comes with a power adapter in the box. Elsewhere, the 15 Ultra sports a gorgeous 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 1-120Hz refresh rate and up to 3,200 nits of brightness. Its also available in three colorways: a white model with an etched back, black with an almost rubbery textured finish and a special Silver Chrome edition that draws inspiration from some of Leicas old-school cameras. I appreciate that the white model I tested features subtle swerves carved into its back that shine in the sunlight. But lets be honest, that two-toned metal and black one is easily the most attractive of the bunch because it really leans into what this phone does best. In back, theres a massive circular camera module that normally Im not a huge fan of when used on rival devices like the OnePlus 13. However, on this device, its more than just a showpiece because inside it is some serious photo hardware. The Ultra 15s 23mm equivalent main camera uses a massive 1-inch 50-megapixel Sony sensor. Then, for stuff like expansive landscapes, theres an f/2.2 50-MP ultrawide cam. But it doesnt stop there because theres not one but two zoom lenses: a 50MP midrange shooter with a 70mm focal length plus a super high-res 200MP periscope array with a 100mm focal length (which equates to a 4.7x optical zoom). Now, I havent had a ton of time to fully put it through its paces, but from what Ive seen so far, the Xiaomi Ultra 15 has one of the most well-rounded photo toolkits around. Its got Leica optics along with big sensors and lenses that cover pretty much every focal length youd need on a daily basis. And on the software side, there are some preset Leica filters like Vibrant or Authentic to really drive home the collaboration between the two brands. Sam Rutherford for Engadget That said, one of the things that impresses me the most is that Xiaomi even created a separate Photography kit that includes an add-on camera grip with a physical shutter button, an adjustable dial and a dedicated video button. Theres also a case that allows you to attach a standard 67mm filter adapter. This means, assuming you have the right gear, you can take some of the same glass you use on your real camera and use it with the Ultra 15. And this isnt just some half-hearted afterthought either, as the kit also comes with bonuses like a hand strap, a decorative lens ring and two different removable caps for its shutter. Notably, unlike some Chinese phones like those from Huawei, Xiaomi handsets still have access to Google services, so you can download apps from the Play Store. Even the companys HyperOS 2 is a relatively minimalist Android skin that looks good and is easy to use. And while this model will be available globally starting at around 850, sadly there are no official plans to bring it to the US, which is a real shame because no one is really selling handsets like this in America anymore. (RIP to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-CM1.)This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/the-xiaomi-15-ultra-is-a-leica-powered-photo-showcase-143001055.html?src=rss
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