Entertainment
NASAs new moon base plan bets big on moon trucks and hopping drones
NASA has started locking in the first missions it says will turn the moon‘s south pole into a place where astronauts can actually stay and work.
The U.S. space agency announced Tuesday that three initial moon base-building missions this year will send cargo and vehicles for moving crews across the surface to the lunar south pole. The work builds on the recent Artemis II crewed flight around the moon and sets up a busier end to this decade, when astronauts start spending more time on the lunar surface.
The accelerated plan unfolds amid a broader rivalry with China, which has mounted a series of lunar missions and sketched out a long‑term research station for its own astronauts, known as taikonauts. Both countries now see the moon as the next stage for human exploration and a race for leadership in deep space.
China has its first human landing in its crosshairs and could beat NASA back to the surface of the moon. The United States’ last crewed landing occurred in 1972, and no other nation has ever put boots on the lunar ground. Right now, NASA is targeting a landing of its Artemis IV mission in late 2028.
“What we are embarking upon is extremely challenging, and we know so little from what is a combined 80 hours of lunar astronaut EVA time across the Apollo missions, and that was more than a half-century ago. So we are not jumping right into the glass-dome moon base,” said NASA administrator Jared Isaacman in Washington during a news briefing. “We are leveraging the NASA playbook from the 1960s, figuring out what works and what doesn’t, in this epic science of survival.”
The moon base’s construction at the south pole is split into three phases. First, it focuses on making landings reliable, trying out ways to survive the brutal polar environment, and delivering an initial trickle of cargo. Next, NASA and its partners add bigger power systems, more cargo runs, and, eventually, places where astronauts can live and work for longer stretches.
In the final phase, heavy cargo versions of commercial landers haul larger hardware — habitats, bigger power plants, more capable rovers, and science instruments — so astronauts can assemble the base over dozens of flights.
Mashable Light Speed
The moon base push comes as a clear pivot from NASA’s earlier plan. Until recently, the agency’s roadmap leaned heavily on Gateway, a small space station proposal that would have orbited the moon rather than established an outpost on the ground. Leaders now say they will shift their funding and workforce toward the base effort and look for ways to reuse some Gateway components.
The south pole sits at the center of the new strategy. Craters there stay in permanent shadow and likely hold frozen water. Nearby ridges can get sunlight for most of the lunar day. Water could supply drinking water, oxygen, and even rocket fuel. Steady light makes solar power easier. NASA wants to learn how to run a base in this region before it sends people on months‑long trips to Mars.
“The moon base is as beautiful as it is hostile,” Isaacman said. “We go for the technology we will pioneer to get there, the science, and all that we will learn that will make life better here on Earth.”
“The moon base is as beautiful as it is hostile.”
The first big step is Moon Base I, which will fly Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 Endurance lander to a spot NASA calls Shackleton Connecting Ridge near the rim of Shackleton crater. The mission, targeted for launch no earlier than fall 2026, will carry NASA instruments, including stereo cameras to watch how rocket exhaust throws lunar dust and rocks and a laser reflector that helps orbiting spacecraft pinpoint their exact location using bounced laser light. NASA says this flight will cut risk for crewed Artemis landings.
Two more missions follow. Moon Base II, planned for launch later this year, will ride on Astrobotic’s Griffin lander and deliver more than 1,100 pounds of cargo, including Astrolab’s FLIP rover, to shake out early mobility systems. Moon Base III, also targeted for this year, will fly on Intuitive Machines’ Nova‑C Trinity lander and carry the Lunar Vertex science package to study strange bright “swirl” markings on the surface, along with instruments from the European Space Agency and South Korea’s astronomy institute.
NASA has begun to stage missions intended to deliver hardware and vehicles to the lunar south pole for the construction of a moon base.
Credit: NASA illustration
To help crews and robots get around, NASA picked two companies to build lunar terrain vehicles — essentially moon‑ready utility trucks. The agency awarded about $219 million to Astrolab and $220 million to Lunar Outpost for the first phase of these rovers, which it wants operating by 2028. Astrolab’s CLV‑1 rover weighs about 2,000 pounds in its stowed form, carries two astronauts plus cargo, and can top 6 mph on flat ground. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can drive for up to a year, run under manual, remote, or autonomous control, and reach more than 9 mph.
NASA also plans a hopping‑drone mission, called Moonfall. In 2028, a Moonfall flight will send four small drones that make short hops across the south pole, then settle in and keep working for several months through the harsh lunar night. They will scout rough terrain, search for signs of buried ice, and beam back sharp images that help later landers avoid hazards. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California leads the drone design, and Firefly Aerospace will build the spacecraft that ferries them from Earth orbit to the Moon.
All of this plugs into the broader Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the surface and then push on to Mars. Artemis III, targeted for mid‑2027, will test more of the pieces the moon base needs, including docking with commercial landers.
NASA officials say they do not know yet exactly where a long‑term base will sit or what it will look like. For now, they want many landers, rovers, and drones to explore different ridges and craters, then gradually build up something more like a small lunar neighborhood spread across a wide area, said Carlos García-Galán, the program executive for the moon base.
“With crews coming to the surface twice a year, we can expand the time that they can expend there before they come back home,” said García-Galán. “Eventually, when we’ve matched the assets, habitation modules, with the logistics and all the things to move the logistics around, then we’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, we’re permanently here, and we’re not giving it up.'”
Entertainment
I tested the top MacBook alternatives: See which Windows PCs actually beat Apple
The 2026 Dell XPS 14 is a stylish investment for aesthetic-forward power users — I’m thinking content creators who might also be occasional gamers. You’re probably wishing the 14-inch MacBook Pro was even sleeker and a little more portable, and you may be getting impatient waiting for Apple’s touchscreen OLED upgrade. You’re definitely open to carrying around dongles.
I tested two configurations of the handsome XPS 14. The one I recommend as the best MacBook Pro alternative is an upper mid-tier model with an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor and a dazzling tandem OLED touchscreen (an optional upgrade). It’s no battery life champ, but it keeps pace with the base Pro in multi-core workloads, and its integrated GPU is excellent for demanding creative software and casual gaming.
The XPS 14 is easily one of the most elegant laptops I’ve ever encountered. Dell trimmed down its all-aluminum design for 2026, making it a touch thinner and nearly half a pound lighter than a 14-inch Pro. It’s available in two MacBook-y finishes: graphite and shimmer (coming later this year). Its lattice keyboard takes some adjusting to if you’re used to regular island-style keyboards, but it translates to a modern, minimalist look. Its seamless glass haptic touchpad looks equally clean. Its speakers are above-average for a Windows laptop — they’re just a little more echoey than a MacBook’s.
The XPS 14’s 2.8K OLED display is a $150 upcharge that I can endorse. It’s not as bright or crisp as a MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR display, but it’s more vibrant and just as smooth. (The standard IPS version is much duller in comparison.) Keep in mind that OLED won’t be a thing on a Mac until late 2026 at the soonest.
The Core Ultra X7 chip is a close rival of Apple’s M5 chip when you work it hard. It doesn’t feel as snappy in single-core scenarios, but trails the current MacBook Pro by only four percent when used for multi-core tasks. (That’s nothing.) What’s more, the Core Ultra X7’s Intel Arc B390 iGPU is comparable to an entry-level discrete graphics card. It’s perfectly capable of running graphically taxing titles like Cyberpunk 2077 with the help of games’ AI upscaling tech.
The XPS 14’s stamina is lacking compared to the M5 MacBook Pro, though it really depends on what you’re using it for. It held out for 10 hours and 19 minutes in our video rundown test, which is a full workday at least, but not great. (Its Apple counterpart ran for over 21 hours in the same test.) That said, its 120Hz OLED display dips down to just 20Hz when you’re viewing static content, so it should last much longer when it’s not looping a video.
If you want an XPS 14 with MacBook-beating battery life in almost any scenario, look into the $1,999.99 base model with a Core Ultra 5 325 chip. It lasted 22 hours on the dot in our video rundown test, and its refresh rate can drop to a mere 1Hz for static content. Just know that you’ll sacrifice a good chunk of power: It offers 35 percent worse multi-core performance than the Core Ultra X7 version. Speed-wise, it’s most akin to an M2 MacBook Air from 2022. (The cheaper Dell 14S with the Core Ultra 7 355 chip performs slightly better and lasts even longer, FWIW.)
Entertainment
I put the Camp Snap 2 to the ultimate test: Capturing my honeymoon
Table of Contents
In preparation for my honeymoon, getting a camera was at the top of my list. Although my iPhone 17 Pro Max takes next-level photos, I wanted to be able to stay off my phone and stay in the moment. I needed something beginner-friendly, and while I love the look of film, I wanted the convenience of digital. That’s where the Camp Snap comes in.
Originally designed for summer campers who want a digital camera to capture camp memories, the Camp Snap is screen-free. However, the Camp Snap has attracted an audience beyond summer campers, thanks to its nostalgic-looking photos.
I own the Camp Snap, but when I tried the Camp Snap 2, I totally fell in love. It was the perfect camera to bring on my honeymoon, and now I have the sweetest photos to look back on.
Camp Snap 2 at a glance
The Camp Snap 2 is more high-tech than it looks.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The Camp Snap 2 is a screen-free digital camera, which costs $69.95. It has a playful, vintage look, but it’s not a gimmick. It has flash and five filters and is exceptionally easy to use. Without a screen, you stay in the moment; however, it does make using the filters a bit of a guessing game. It still creates stunning digital photos with a film-like look. Uploading photos is straightforward, requiring only a USB-C connection to get them on your phone or computer, even on the go.
A camera made for amateurs
The only screen on the Camp Snap 2 displays your photo count and filters.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
You know when someone hands you their camera, and there are so many buttons that they need to point out the right one to hit snap? Well, that’s not an issue on the Camp Snap 2 because there are so few buttons, it’s obvious which ones do what. There are exactly three buttons: an on/off/flash switch, the shoot button on top of the camera, and a filter button.
There’s no guessing on which button does what on the Camp Snap 2.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
There’s a viewfinder and a tiny screen that displays the photo count and the filter the camera is set to. There are no lens details to futz with; you just turn it on and shoot. There’s no learning curve to worry about. It also takes photos in a 3:4 or 4:3 ratio.
This meant that on our honeymoon, we could whip out the camera, snap the shot, and go. Plus, if we ever handed the camera to someone so we could get a couple shot, it was self-explanatory. It has a little shutter sound that clicks when the photo is taken, so you know you’ve got the shot.
The photos have a sweet, nostalgic feel to them
Camp Snap 2 photos look like film but still have the convenience of digital.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Camp Snap’s photos are just as charming as the camera itself looks. It has a vintage-inspired design, and the Camp Snap 2 now comes in colorful jelly shades.
The photos the camera takes also have a nostalgic look, most reminiscent of photos from a disposable camera digitized. It looks like film, but it has the convenience of digital. Don’t expect crisp, detailed photos; everything has a slight fuzz to it, but that’s part of the style to just embrace.
Camp Snap 2
Lake Vouliagmeni captured on the Camp Snap 2.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
iPhone 17 Pro Max
Lake Vouliagmeni captured on my iPhone.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Without a screen, you’re always taking a gamble on a bad shot, but since it’s digital, it’s not the same stakes as with a film camera. But out of the hundreds of photos I took, none of them were true duds.
Camp Snap 2
On the Camp Snap 2, the foreground is too dark compared to the sunset.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
iPhone 17 Pro Max
The iPhone gives a more balanced photo.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
It doesn’t perform well on high-contrast images. For example, a crowded street in the shade with a bright sunset behind it lost much of the detail that a similar photo I took on my iPhone did. As long as you have bright, well-balanced sunlight, you’ll have beautiful photos. If not, make sure to turn on flash.
Upload to any device on the go
With its easy uploads, I could look at photos from the day as soon as I took them.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
On vacation, I didn’t have a full computer setup, just my phone and a USB-C cord, but that’s enough to upload photos. While we were traveling between destinations, I plugged the Camp Snap 2 into my phone, watched the photos appear in the Photos app, uploaded them, and even deleted them to free up space on the camera. It was so simple, required no WiFi connection, and was really quick.
While I tested the Camp Snap on iOS and Mac devices, it’s also compatible with Android and PC.
No worries about battery life or storage
There were plenty of devices I had to worry about charging during our honeymoon: my phone, iPad, and portable fan. But the Camp Snap wasn’t one of them. It has extensive battery life, and one charge gets you 500 photos. With the included MicroSD storage, the camera stores 2,000 photos; however, if you need even more space, you can swap out cards.
There’s a bit of a learning curve with the filters
This is the standard shot taken on the Camp Snap 2, without filter.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Photos taken in bright light will have a darker tint to them even without filter.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The biggest upgrade between the Camp Snap and Camp Snap 2 is the inclusion of filters. The Camp Snap 2 comes with six built-in filters: standard, vintage 1–3, analog, and black & white. The filters are a nice touch, but I never found myself reaching for them.
Trying out the filters with my dog, Milly.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
Since there’s no screen, you can’t see what the filter looks like until you upload it later. This means you’ll need to spend a little time playing around with them to see how they look and what you like.
Is the Camp Snap 2 worth it?
The Camp Snap 2 adds instant nostalgia to photos.
Credit: Samantha Mangino / Mashable
The Camp Snap 2 is 100 percent worth it. At $69.95, it’s about half the price of a standard digital camera, and although it definitely has some drawbacks, like no screen or zoom, it makes up for them with ease and charm. It’s so easy to use, whether you’re an amateur photographer or a summer camper. The upload process is just as simple, too.
Entertainment
Review: The unbeatable M5 MacBook Air might be too powerful for its own good
Table of Contents
At a glance
Key specs: A speedy M5 chip, Touch ID, HDR Liquid Retina Display, and Neural Accelerators to support AI workloads — all in a body that’s just 2.7 pounds and 0.44 inches thick
New starting price: 13-inch model is $1,299 (originally $1,099); 15-inch model is $1,499 (originally $1,299)
Colors: Midnight black, sky blue, silver, starlight
Our 100-word review: “The M5 MacBook Air is an impressive piece of machinery. It’s incredibly thin and light, and I’m a big fan of macOS 26 Tahoe and Liquid Glass, no matter what the haters say. The default screensaver that plays is completely mesmerizing, and sometimes I find myself staring at it for minutes on end, enjoying a nice moment of zen in the middle of a workday. On top of that, you get all the premium features you expect in a modern MacBook. My one caveat: If I already had an M3 or M4 MacBook Air, I’d probably hold onto it for awhile longer.”
Apple MacBook Air (M5): Our updated review
The newest MacBook Air from Apple is a damn near-perfect machine. And for a few glorious days in late May, when it was discounted to just $899 at Amazon, it was a true 10/10 product. Unfortunately, thanks to the global memory crisis, Apple has since increased the starting price of this laptop from $1,099 to $1,299, and that changes how we feel about this machine.
To be clear, from an engineering, user experience, performance, and design standpoint, the M5 MacBook Air is nearly flawless.
And as a long-time product reviewer, I try to avoid using words like “perfect” and “flawless” in my reviews at all costs. But after spending five months with this laptop, it keeps impressing me.
In my initial review of the M5 MacBook Air, I wondered whether this laptop was actually too powerful for its own good. I still think it’s overpowered (and thus slightly overpriced) for the average Air customer — especially after the recent price increase — but this is undoubtedly one of the best laptops and MacBooks in the world right now.
So, after stress-testing the newest MacBook Air — and watching many hours of Dropout TV shows after work — I’m ready to lock in this product as a Mashable Choice Award winner.
The new MacBook Air (M5): By the numbers
Liquid Glass looks particularly good on the MacBook Liquid Retina display.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
For this review, I tested the 15.3-inch version of the MacBook Air with 1TB of storage. You may see some slight variations in performance with the 13.6-inch model. Overall, this laptop has impressive specifications:
-
Processor: M5 (10-core CPU, 8‑core GPU, Neural Accelerators)
-
Colors: Sky blue, silver, starlight, midnight black
-
Memory: 16GB (configurable to 24GB or 32GB)
-
Storage: 512GB SSD (configurable to 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB)
-
Display: 13.6 or 15.3-inch Liquid Retina display
-
Video playback: HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10+/HDR10, and HLG
-
Resolution: 2,560 x 1,664
-
Brightness: 500 nits
-
Battery life: 17 hours, 40 minutes in video playback test
-
Ports: MagSafe 3 charging port, 3.5 mm headphone jack, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 4
-
Connectivity: Apple N1 chip, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6
-
Webcam: 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View
-
Dimensions: 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches
-
Weight: 2.7 pounds
The MacBook Air (M5) performs like a Pro
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
Despite all the accolades I’ve given it, the new MacBook Air is definitely an iterative upgrade in many respects. Like its predecessor, it comes in 13.6 and 15.3-inch models, and you can choose from silver, sky blue, starlight, and midnight black. At a mere 0.44 inches thick and a measly 2.7 pounds, it’s remarkably thin and lightweight, yet it never feels fragile or flimsy in the slightest. On the contrary, the MacBook’s signature all-aluminum body makes it a very durable laptop.
The big difference, of course, is the M5 chip inside. When we put it through the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, it scored 16,099 on the multi-core test. On the single-core test, it scored 4,025, even higher than we expected. The multi-core score puts it within spitting distance of the M5 MacBook Pro released late last year. For almost all intents and purposes, it is a MacBook Pro. Minus the fans, of course.
The single-core score is a good proxy for everyday performance (what our laptop expert calls “snappiness”), and that lines up perfectly with my testing. When exporting or importing large files, it barely flinches. It can handle video editing software, complex Apple Shortcuts, and even some gaming.
Is the MacBook Air (M5) too powerful?
Apple introduced the M1 chip in 2020, its first in-house processor, kicking off a revolution in the laptop world. The M1 chip destroyed the competition, and the original M1 MacBook Air is probably the most award-winning laptop ever. It’s a legendary device that was still popular six years later, an unheard-of feat.
As Apple introduced the M2, M3, M4, M5, and now M5 Pro and Pro Max chips, the MacBook Air and Pro laptops have become extremely powerful. The new M5 Max chip scored 29,000 on the Geekbench 6 test, making it so powerful that pro laptop reviewers struggled to test it properly. I know professional film editors who are still working on M1 and M2 laptops. And in 2024, my colleague Stan Schroeder wrote that “Apple’s M series chips are too good for their own good.” That’s doubly true today.
The new MacBook Air also has a much higher starting price of $1,299, or $300 more than the previous generation. Yes, Apple doubled the starting storage, but Apple experts like Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman say that’s just Apple’s way of softening the blow of a price increase.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Traditionally, the MacBook Air has been a popular laptop for college students, early-career professionals, and more casual users. If you’re running complex programs like Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Adobe Suite, then you opt for the Pro.
On the Geekbench 6 tests we ran, this laptop achieved 92.5 percent of the power of the latest MacBook Pro. Only hardcore superusers are going to come close to taxing the M5 Air, and those kinds of users will probably be buying a Pro or Mac Studio anyway.
So, in a world with the $699 MacBook Neo — a surprisingly capable laptop that matches the M1 Air in performance — I’m not quite sure we needed a newer, even more powerful Air. The recipe was already just right.
So, am I seriously telling you that this MacBook would be better if it were worse? Kind of! I may be in the minority on this one, but I think the average Air buyer would be better off with a slightly less powerful but more affordable device. I miss the days when the M3 and M4 Air went on sale for $799 or $899.
Unfortunately, laptops are getting more expensive across the board. The top alternatives to the MacBook Air have also gotten price increases in 2026.
MacBook Air (M5) review: Speakers, display, and design
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been using this laptop to watch Dropout TV, which isn’t available on my smart TV, sadly. Not only does it have enough processing power for most workloads, but it’s also a great entertainment laptop. The HDR Liquid Retina Display looks fantastic, even if it’s not quite at OLED level.
Similarly, the speakers sound strong and clear when listening to music or watching TV shows and movies. When using the four-speaker sound system, the laptop supports spatial audio and Dolby Atmos; spatial audio is also supported when listening with AirPods.
For video calls or voice recording, you’ll benefit from a three-mic array, directional beamforming, voice isolation, and a 12MP Center Stage camera.
Of course, as strong as they are, none of these components has been upgraded from last year’s M4 MacBook Air.
MacBook Air (M5) review: Battery life
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
When testing a laptop’s battery, we evaluate how long it lasts while using the laptop as our daily driver — doing work, browsing the web, streaming music and TV. And we’ve been able to get consistent all-day performance out of this device. However, we also test the battery life during video playback. (We conduct a battery rundown test by playing the 1080p version of Tears of Steel on loop, at 50 percent brightness and 50 percent volume.) And this is the one area where the new MacBook Air didn’t quite meet our expectations.
Typically, we expect new MacBooks to achieve 19 hours of battery life (the smaller and more affordable MacBook Neo is the exception). However, when running down the 15-inch MacBook Air (M5), the battery only lasted 17 hours and 40 minutes. That’s more than enough power for virtually all use cases, but we have tested other MacBook and Windows laptops with better battery life.
The M5 Air has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a MagSafe charging port, and a headphones jack.
Credit: Joe Maldonado / Mashable
M5 MacBook Air review: Is it worth it?
As much as I hate the new $1,299 price, this laptop is definitely still worth buying.
Sure, for $899, or even $949, I’d find this laptop irresistible, and it would get a perfect 5.0 score from me. But here’s the bottom line: For the new $1,299 price — and with Windows laptops also getting price hikes — this laptop still justifies its price with premium components, the newest WiFi and Bluetooth tech, and a fast chip with no true competition in the Windows market.
Personally, I’d wait and see what this laptop’s new sale price will be during events like Black Friday. Before the price hike, it was discounted to $899 to $949, but I suspect we won’t see this laptop for under $1,000 for a long while, if ever. So, if you have the coin, and if you want near-MacBook-Pro-level performance but in a lighter and more portable body, then spring for the new and improved Air.
$1,049
at Amazon
$1,099
Save $50
Gotham D Emily Sonnett (left knee) out for season
DiJonai Carrington, Sky look to avoid sweep by Aces
