FlashFeed

Full text

Fans of the iconic Back to the Future recently got some exciting news , as it was confirmed that co-creator Bob Gale is diving into the franchise’s archive for a new book titled Back to the Future: The Complete Screenplay , which hits shelves later this year in celebration of the movie’s 40th anniversary last year. "This is going to be really instructional about how movies are made, how scripts are written," Gale said in an interview. "The mistakes are in there, the deleted scenes are in there, the stuff that we changed, stuff that we thought we were going to do that we didn’t do. It’s chock full of stuff like that."

Full text

Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority

TL;DR

T-Mobile’s free Wi-Fi benefit on United Airlines flights will end on July 13, 2026.

This will be the last day to take advantage of the carrier’s perk.

One of the benefits of being a T-Mobile customer was its free Wi-Fi perk on certain flights. T-Mobile has offered free in-flight Wi-Fi on select airlines for eligible members for over a decade. While the perk is still alive and well for some airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines recently bowed out of the partnership . If you’re about to fly on United Airlines, know that this is your last day to take advantage of T-Mobile’s offer.

As a quick recap, United Airlines officially ended its deal with T-Mobile back in April. This was a direct result of United forming a partnership with Starlink to begin offering its own complementary in-flight Wi-Fi service. It’s expected that United will offer this benefit on all of its flights by 2027.

Full text

GM faces a new lawsuit over allegedly leaking rear sliding windows.

Complaint targets 2019-2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks.

A long-running and often updated GM service bulletin may bolster owners’ claims.

Trucks are supposed to be tough. They’re supposed to stand up to the harshest environments, battle the elements, and be all-around rugged. According to several GMC and Chevrolet owners , their pickups can’t handle some rain without letting it into the cabin.

var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};

adpushup.que.push(function() {

if (adpushup.config.platform !== "DESKTOP"){

adpushup.triggerAd("0f7e3106-c4d6-4db4-8135-c508879a76f8");

} else {

adpushup.triggerAd("82503191-e1d1-435a-874f-9c78a2a54a2f");

}

});

A new California class action alleges that rear sliding windows installed in certain Chevrolet and GMC pickups allow water to enter the cab, potentially damaging electronics, interior trim, and creating conditions for mold growth. More importantly, the suit argues GM knew about the defect long before many owners discovered it themselves.

One Owner’s $1,000 Surprise

2019 GMC Sierra

Filed by California resident Filiberto Loza Gonzalez, the lawsuit covers certain 2019 and 2020 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra models equipped with power-sliding rear windows. According to filing seen by Car Complaints , Gonzalez discovered water intrusion in his 2019 GMC Sierra 1500 while washing the truck. Although a dealership reportedly verified the issue and performed repairs, he alleges he was left with a bill exceeding $1,000.

var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};

adpushup.que.push(function() {

if (adpushup.config.platform === "DESKTOP"){

adpushup.triggerAd("ea4d4b5a-f8e5-4d5d-9d9a-53a3b956b6cd");

} else{

adpushup.triggerAd("44c0a4dc-e25b-4ba5-ac64-2c510461b92a");

}

});

More: GM Switches Oils Again On Lawsuit-Plagued V8

Gonzalez doesn’t seem to be alone either. Forum posters and other social media users report the same sort of problem. One on GM-Trucks.com writes “GM will try to put a bandage on the window cracks in the form of sealant instead of actually replacing the defective window. Many of the people in the forums report that the sealant does not last as was the case with mine. If you are unlucky enough to fall outside of warranty when the sealant fails, GM will not cover anything without a fight.”

The Bulletin GM Kept Revising

2019-2020 Chevrolet Silverado

Over the years, GM appeared to know about the problem and continually updated a technical service bulletin in an effort to remedy the issue. That effort now appears to be a lynchpin in the case. According to Technical Service Bulletin 18-NA-383, technicians were instructed to inspect for cracking in the rear sliding window’s plastic upper rail guide, a condition that could allow water to bypass the urethane seal and enter the vehicle.

Also: GM Says A Seizing V8 Isn’t A Defect If Only 3% Of Them Failed

var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};

adpushup.que.push(function() {

if (adpushup.config.platform !== "DESKTOP"){

adpushup.triggerAd("bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c");

} else {

adpushup.triggerAd("9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751");

}

});

GM’s prescribed repair involved removing the rear roof spoiler and applying seam sealer across the top of the window assembly. The document further notes that if the repair failed and the vehicle returned with the same complaint, dealers should replace the entire rear sliding window assembly.

That last detail could prove important. The lawsuit claims GM concealed a defect involving substandard materials and continued selling affected trucks despite knowing about the issue. The fact that the bulletin has gone through numerous revisions over the years may become a point of contention. The March 2023 version included in court filings is labeled Version 13 and shows a revision history stretching back to the bulletin’s original release in early 2019.

The proposed class includes owners and lessees in California of certain 2019 and 2020 Silverado and Sierra 1500, 2500HD, and 3500HD models. For now, the allegations remain unproven, and GM has not been found liable. That said, plenty of affected owners might want to pay close attention to what happens from here.

var adpushup = window.adpushup = window.adpushup || {que:[]};

adpushup.que.push(function() {

if (adpushup.config.platform !== "DESKTOP"){

adpushup.triggerAd("bb7964e9-07de-4b06-a83e-ead35079d53c");

} else {

adpushup.triggerAd("9b1169d9-7a89-4971-a77f-1397f7588751");

}

});

Photos: General Motors

Full text

On April 6, the four crewmembers of NASA's Artemis II mission swooped around the far side of the moon in their Orion spacecraft, disappearing from Earth's sight and losing all contact with humanity for roughly 40 minutes.

At the same time, some 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away, Chris White, the mission's lead communications officer, was nervously pacing the halls of NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston, waiting for the chance to do his job again.

"It was all nerves," White, the lead integrated communications officer (INCO) on Artemis II , told Live Science. In addition to maintaining communication with the Orion spacecraft (an impossible task while the moon blocked every signal), the INCO team also controlled its exterior cameras — a job White had previously done for the International Space Station (ISS).

The team knew for over a year what Orion's lunar flyby would entail, and which shots the cameras should capture. They had sent a checklist of nearly 300 commands to Orion that morning, telling the cameras exactly what to do after the spacecraft vanished behind the moon . All that remained was to wait.

After 40 minutes, bits of telemetry data started popping up on White's monitor as the Orion crew reemerged safely from behind the moon. Voice contact soon followed. But it would still take another day for Orion's flyby photos to traverse the space between the moon and Houston. When White finally opened the file the next morning, his body failed him.

"I opened a photo — the eclipse photo — and I couldn't breathe," White said. "I was like, 'There's no way that this turned out this well on the first try.'"

The INCO team's incredible Orion spacecraft photos have now been viewed by tens of millions of Earthlings. Live Science recently spoke with White to get the inside story of the images and the entire Artemis II mission as it was seen from NASA mission control.

Artemis II Lead INCO Chris White (right) and INCO Flight Controller Matthew Johns (left) in the White Flight Control Room at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston on April 6. On the monitor behind, the Orion spacecraft approaches the moon for its close flyby. (Image credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz) Brandon Specktor: In a nutshell, what was your job on the Artemis II mission?

Chris White: During the mission, the INCO console manages all of the communication systems on the spacecraft, as the name kind of implies. We handle not just the video and the camera system but also the onboard audio system — which was the first flight for that — the system for radio communication and the optical communication system, which was a laser system on Artemis II . We also handle a couple of other minor systems.

During liftoff, I looked up from my console screen zero times to look at the live video.

BS: What was the vibe during liftoff?

CW: So, for liftoff , I was in the back, in a support room. The vibe was intense. Everybody was laser-focused on the task at hand. During simulations leading up to it, we had fake, simulated CGI views [of liftoff] to give us an idea of what we were going to see. I always thought, "Man, it's going to look so much cooler in real time." But then during liftoff, I looked up from my console screen zero times to look at the live video. So I didn't see a lot of that footage until the next day, when I had a chance to breathe.

The INCO team was basically flat-out busy for at least the first three flight days. For a lot of my team, it wasn't until after flight day three where things — and I'm going to use air quotes — loosely "calmed down." I don't think any of us truly relaxed until the vehicle was safely in the water.

A view from cameras on board the Orion spacecraft as the solid rocket boosters are jettisoned several minutes after liftoff. (Image credit: NASA) BS: Let's talk about the lunar flyby. What was your experience watching along with the crew as they got closer and closer to the moon?

CW: It was incredible. I've seen the moon through the ISS cameras, and I'd watched the moon, over the course of the previous five flight days, slowly get larger and larger. But there was something logarithmic — almost like it just got really large very quickly on flight day six as we got close to the moon.

And the moon looked wrong, which sounds kind of crazy to say. We're so used to the way that the moon looks from our perspective here on the Earth, that when the vehicle was coming at it from an angle, you could see more of the backside of the moon. So you're in awe of it approaching and getting larger and realizing what's about to happen ‪—‬ but also my brain hurt trying to reconcile what I was seeing, because it didn't look correct. The shape and texture were different than what my brain expected.

The Orion spacecraft approaches the moon during its close flyby. "The moon looked wrong" from this unusual angle, White said. (Image credit: NASA) BS: And the colors too, based on what the astronauts said . Did you notice anything unusual about the moon's coloration?

CW: It was hard to tell. The bandwidth limitations of being that far away from Earth made it hard to distinguish a lot of those finer details. But there was a moment where we looked at it and we were like, "I think we can tweak the exposure on this." It was a little too dark, and then we bumped it up a little bit. And all of a sudden, these muted grays became a little bit more brown. I was not expecting to be able to see that from our cameras.

You see it much more in some of the high-res photos that the crew took. But it was honestly shocking to see how much more color shows up even just a little bit as you get closer.

My brain hurt trying to reconcile what I was seeing.

BS: As you were doing that flyby, did you have a strict checklist of shots you had to take?

CW: Yeah, absolutely. Flyby was a heavily choreographed event for the Orion cameras, as well as the crew and the science community. But we had started working on that plan well over one year earlier, and we knew exactly what shots we wanted and when we wanted them. The timing of all that shifts slightly, depending on exactly when you launch. So we had a framework in place, and then we just tweaked the timing in the 24 hours leading up to the events.

I think it was something like 290 total commands over the course of eight hours. We just scripted and time-tagged and put them on the vehicle, so it just clicked through them.

Orion's cameras capture Earthset — the surreal moment when a crescent Earth disappears beyond the moon's horizon. (Image credit: NASA) BS: How does that work during the eclipse phase, when you were out of contact?

CW: So we knew when Earthset ‪—‬ and, therefore, the start of the loss of signal (LOS) ‪—‬ would be and when Earthrise would be. And so we had the cameras flip into kind of a time-lapse mode at that point and then take a 30-second interval time lapse as the Earth got smaller and smaller and smaller behind the moon. All of that was scripted.

And then, behind the moon, during the LOS, it continued to take photos at a slower pace. I think it was like once every few minutes. We had all that on a timer, basically.

BS: How soon after the lunar flyby did you get to see the images?

CW: Luckily, we had a great optical comm pass that same night. So all those photos came down via laser to the Earth, and I saw them the next day. I didn't see them in the moment; I saw them the next day.

And I opened that photo — the eclipse photo — and I couldn't breathe. I was like, "There's no way that this turned out this well on the first try."

BS: Is that the photo that stands out most to you from the flyby?

CW: Yeah, it absolutely is. A lot of the photos you take in space, people are like, "Oh, where are the stars?" And it's because you have to expose the camera to the very bright, shiny spacecraft in front of you, and all the stars fade away into the blackness in the background.

But because the sun was behind the moon, you have the moon in the foreground in focus, the sun kind of bleeding out from behind it. The stars and the planets are all there. You can see Venus; you can see Saturn; you can see Mars. And then you have the glow of the spacecraft — it's not lit by the sun, but by the Earth — in the foreground. It was an incredible photo.

The Orion crew experienced a total solar eclipse while orbiting behind the moon. The spacecraft cameras capture the first hint of sunlight bleeding into view again as the capsule begins to reemerge. (Image credit: NASA) BS: What were you guys doing during that loss-of-signal phase? What was the vibe like then?

CW: I was pacing around the control center. The INCO team is responsible for keeping communication with the vehicle as much as we can, and there's not really much that we can do about that when you put a celestial body between us and the crew.

It's all nerves. It's all of the, "Hey, did we configure everything correctly? Are communications going to come back on the other side?" So just to distract myself for the 40 minutes that we were at LOS, I just kind of walked around the building and chatted with other people, just to try to keep myself distracted.

It wasn't until about three or four minutes after Earthrise that we started getting stable video, and then the crew called down. And that was really when I breathed a sigh of relief, once I heard voice coming down from the vehicle again.

BS: Do you feel different after this mission?

CW: People keep asking me that. I don't know that I've had quite enough time to fully unpack the mission. But I think it's slowly sinking in that we just sent four people around the moon, literally further away from Earth than ever. And I think, not only did we change them and the flight control team from that experience, but I think we changed a lot of people's perceptions of the moon , which is awesome.

BS: Do you know what your role for Artemis III is going to be?

CW: I definitely still plan to be on the INCO team for Artemis III. I will not be the lead for that mission. But I definitely still plan to be on console and hope to take some even more incredible photos during that mission.

Related stories

Earth-based telescope shares image of Artemis II capsule near the moon — one of the farthest photos of humans ever taken

Artemis II crew captures rare double auroras on the dark side of Earth as they zoom toward the moon — Space photo of the week

'I heard gasps' and 'oh my God': Artemis II astronauts reveal inside story of their mind-bending solar eclipse

BS: Any closing thoughts?

CW: I just want to stress what a team effort this was. The vehicle cameras had a script and a plan that involved not just the INCO team. But to point these cameras, I have to get the solar arrays swung forward in a specific direction, so I have to coordinate with the power guys. I have to sometimes ask the GNC [guidance, navigation and control] team to rotate the vehicle itself, which is entirely different from how we do things on ISS. There was our imagery team handling camera settings and proper exposure. There's the engineers who developed these systems.

This was not just me and the INCO team on console. It was truly a full flight control team effort to get these.

Editor's note: This interview has been condensed and edited lightly for clarity.

Are you a NASA nerd? See how well you score on our Artemis quiz to find out!