Technology

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The 2026 version of my favorite robot vacuum from last year has arrived: As of March 23, the $1,5999.99 Roborock Saros 20 is available to buy in the U.S.

This is hardly a matter of whether the Saros 20 is better than the Saros 10R — from a technical standpoint, it literally is. As the direct new version of the Saros 10R, the Saros 20 is obviously packed with several specs upgrades over its predecessor. So in my at-home testing, I'm considering whether I'm as excited about the Saros 20 in 2026 as I was about the Saros 10R in 2025.

What's special (or not) about the Roborock Saros 20?

The premium robot vacuum market is much more crowded than it was last year, so the Saros 20 has to work harder to stand out. The Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete is extremely similar in cleaning capabilities, ultra-slim design, and price. The Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow has weaker suction and a completely different style of mopping, but is still a fantastic vacuum from the same brand at a much chiller price point. Both of those have been on the market for at least a month, taking a bit of edge off the Saros 20's debut.

And then there's the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic, which is set to release later this spring. "Sonic" refers to a vibrating D-shaped mopping pad like the Saros 10 had, but this one isn't relegated to the vacuum's circular body. It shares most of its other features with the Saros 20. Still, I can't assess the Saros 20 in a vacuum when I know there's another version out soon.

SEE ALSO: A tale of two robot vacuums with arms: How the Dreame Cyber 10 could beat the Roborock Saros Z70

At any rate, the Saros 20 has a few main improvements over the 10R. Not only does its 36,000 Pa suction power topple the Saros 10R's 22,000 Pa, but it's now the strongest suction power on the market by a hair (the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete has 35,000 Pa). The Saros 20 is also outfitted with the AdaptiLift Chassis 3.0: a legged tri-wheel system that can hoist the vacuum body over thick thresholds up to 3.46 inches, like floor type changes, U-shaped chair legs, or plush rugs. (That's a big theme this year.) The Saros 20's small obstacle avoidance feels lightyears ahead of the Saros 10R's.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that the Saros 20 costs $1,599.99 — the same debut price as last year's Saros 10 and Saros 10R models. You're getting an extra 14,000 Pa of suction and better navigation for the same price someone paid last year. If you already have a Roborock, you can save up to $1,050 on the Saros 20 by trading in the old one.

The Saros 20's small obstacle avoidance is phenomenal

The Saros 20 uses the same StarSight 2.0 navigational system that the Saros 10 did. This alternative to traditional LiDAR got a lot of marketing hype last year, but in my testing, it wasn't any better at avoiding small obstacles than other robot vacuums I was testing. I expected the Saros 20 to be similarly fine, but I've actually been blown away by its accuracy — there's no question that the Saros 20 has a far deeper understanding of the various items that could pop up on the floor.

This is what your vacuum app looks like when you don't have a shoe rack. Credit: Screenshot / Roborock I had to laugh at the Saros 20 catching me and my cat watching it vacuum. Credit: Screenshot / Roborock

I think this is the first time a robot vacuum in my apartment has had a 100 percent obstacle avoidance rate for multiple days on end. The Saros 20 knows that a shoe is a shoe, a reusable grocery bag is a bag, and an extension cord or charger is a cord. It'll sweep or scrub right up against the shoes or bags without snatching them up, but keeps its distance from cords to stay on the safe side. Its acute peripheral vision even clocks that the rolling desk chair is a chair type that's easy to get stuck in, maneuvering back to the dock accordingly.

Is the Roborock Saros 20 good on carpet?

The Saros 20 has had generally reliable rug performance so far, but it hasn't been as foolproof as I expected for 36,000 Pa.

Its two standout tests involved dried quinoa dumped from the bag onto the kitchen Ruggable (the printed flatweave texture) and a giant field of dryer lint dragged around the tufted living room rug. I had to get down on the floor to find stragglers from either mess. The lint roller test in the living room only revealed a few stray cat hairs and the fuzzies that shed off the rug constantly.

Some lint tufts were loose, some were pushed down into the rug fibers. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable I let this rug go un-vacuumed for days to test the Saros 20, so this is pretty impressive. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Saros 20 also did a great job of sucking spilled pancake mix off of that flat rug. However, its performance on powder and small debris was iffy on a fluffier rug. It left behind a considerable amount of protein mix and oats, which the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete had no problem clearing afterward.

The ability to clean a bathroom without getting into an altercation with a bath mat is rare, but an extension of rug performance nonetheless. The AdaptiLift Chassis definitely works as intended in that regard — several times, I've watched the Saros 20 lift and tilt the vacuum body to skirt over the corner flaps instead of dragging them underneath.

Is the Roborock Saros 20 good on hard floors?

The Saros 20's dual spinning mopping pad system is nearly identical to the Saros 10R's, but that's not a bad thing. Though a few roller mop robot vacuums I've tested can actually mop closer to walls than I expected, the length of the roller prohibits them from mopping closely in 90-degree angles (the entire roller needs to be pulled in to change directions). Corner precision is much higher when there are two round spinning pads that can move independently of each other.

SEE ALSO: The Shark vs. Roomba debate is stale in 2026, but at least Shark is trying to revive its robot vacuum line

If you're picky about dusty corners or sticky spots near the kitchen cabinets, your ideal robot vacuum and mop combo will have this hinged spinning mop pad system. These pads are also thin enough to scoot into super tight gaps near the floor, like under the bottom shelf of my island/bar cart. A disgusting amount of dust bunnies and dirt from the front door gathers right under it, but a cylindrical roller mop definitely can't swipe under that one-inch clearance.

A taller robot vacuum can't get under low-clearance furniture and cabinets. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable The Saros 20 easily cleans under cabinets. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Saros 20's overall height would make it a great pick for homes with low-clearance furniture. It measures a little bit over three inches tall, which is well short enough to fully clean under my TV stand and bed frame. The same goes for cleaning under the overhangs of kitchen cabinets and appliances: If a robot vacuum can't fit underneath to tackle those daily crumbs and splatters, it's always a no from me. I don't want to live a life where I can't simply push crumbs off the counter and let a vacuum deal with it.

I knew the Saros 20 would ace that test, snatching up between 98 and 99 percent of sprinkles, shredded cheese, and some pinches of basil under the counter on the hardwood kitchen floor. It has also reliably kept up with its litter box area duties on hardwood and on tile in the bathroom, consistently picking up around 97 percent of kitty litter and litter dust.

I really have a newfound appreciation for ultra-slim robot vacuums after testing (and always having to rescue) the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai. It's nearly an inch taller than models like the Saros 20 and Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, which is enough to get itself wedged under my dishwasher or bottom kitchen drawer during almost every clean.

It feels so good to watch a robot vacuum fit under the Litter-Robot step. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable Sansa is shocked at the height difference between the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai (left) and Roborock Saros 20 (right). Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable Bonus test: Could the Roborock Saros 20 be used in a hair salon?

It also seemed appropriate to give the big, fancy 36,000 Pa suction a harder test than my usual robot vacuum obstacle course entails. After giving a friend a quick at-home buzz cut (no, I don't know what I'm doing), I decided to see how the Saros 20 would handle the mess of hair clippings.

I'd typically reserve hair clippings cleanup for powerful stick vacuum testing. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable The Saros 20 dragged this clump to the rug edge, then couldn't snatch it up. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Saros 20 picked up about 90 percent of the hair, but simply could not wrangle a few of the bigger clumps after four or five tries. The damp mopping cloths were integral during the second pass, wiping up the layer of fine, loose hairs that were initially missed in plain vacuum mode. (And that's why hair salons can't ditch the classic broom and dustpan.) The performance wasn't perfect, but a vast majority of the mistakes were ones that could only be avoided by a human with a manual vacuum. To be fair, the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete missed those clumps, too.

SEE ALSO: Shark's new scrubbing-centric robot vacuum finds stains with a UV light. I tested it against other top robot mops. Factors I'm keeping an eye on

I shouldn't have had to send the Saros 20 back for a third pass as often as I did, especially for being the strongest robot vacuum one can buy right now. While it was typically able to throw together a quite wholesome clean after three tries, most people aren't observing their vacuum like I am to know whether a third pass is needed. Shouldn't a vacuum this expensive be better at conducting some sort of "before and after" check?

My kitchen floor felt greasy after testing the Saros 20's effectiveness on condiments like ranch and sesame oil. Maybe I've been spoiled with roller mops that rinse themselves as they're cleaning. But now, it feels unsanitary for non-roller mops to not go back to wash the mops every three minutes. The Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete doesn't have self-rinsing mopping pads, either, but at least it mops with hot water.

As the user, avoiding this isn't rocket science: For larger spills that you don't want dragged across the floor, you just need to enact a target zone cleaning rather than letting it tackle the whole room. Maybe I need to let the AI stain detection cook for another week or so. But right now, I don't feel confident sending the Saros 20 over a spill larger than a dime-sized droplet.

That doesn't mean I would recommend buying the Saros 10R over the Saros 20. (Even though the Saros 10R goes on sale for $999.99 now, I'd tell you to just spend that same amount on the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow.) Though I feel a little let down by the sequel to my favorite, I still have high hopes for the Saros 20 Sonic to be one of the best robot vacuums of 2026.

From YouTubers and TikTok stars to streamers and podcasters, Mashable talks to creators about how they built their platforms, the gear they swear by, and the trends they see coming next. Read more of our creator coverage, meet The Mashable 101 to discover the internet’s most exciting voices, and tell us about your favorite creators today.

Sonos has a new portable speaker.

This may not sound groundbreaking, given the company already has two portable speakers in its lineup, the Sonos Move 2 and Sonos Roam 2, putting the new Play smack in the middle in terms of size. But I bet the news put a smile on many Sonos fans' faces, as Play was just what Sonos needed.

The Roam 2 is portable (Sonos calls it ultra-portable, but we're not sure about that), but it doesn't come near other Sonos speakers in terms of sound. (One Mashable editor described it as "tinny.") The Move 2, on the other hand, sounds amazing, but it's just too big to be called a true portable Bluetooth speaker. I'm not kidding, it weighs 3 kilograms.

But the Sonos Play isn't just an ordinary product launch. It's part of a potential Sonos redemption arc following a disastrous 2024 app re-launch. The company has been off the audio scene as it solved software problems, making the Play part of a larger potential comeback.

After spending a week with the new Sonos speaker, I found it's just the right mix of portability and sound.

Not too heavy, not too small

Sonos sent me a black review unit of the Sonos Play 2 (it also comes in white), and as soon as I unpacked it, I thought this was the right size for a Sonos portable speaker. You can comfortably grab it with one hand, hand it over to someone, or put it in a bag. It's not super light, but at 1.3 kilograms, it's manageable.

On the back, you'll find a tiny carrying loop for extra portability, though I never found an actual use for it.

Sonos Play weighs 1.3kg, and is quite a bit smaller than Sonos Move 2. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Design-wise, well, it's a Sonos speaker. Like pretty much every other Sonos, it's wrapped in a black mesh with an understated, black-on-black company logo on the front. On top, however, it has a rubber surface with buttons you need to actually press, unlike the touch buttons on the Move 2. It's not as fancy, but probably makes the speaker more resistant to the elements (Sonos says the Play is waterproof up to IP67 specs; the Move 2 only goes to IP56).

On the back, there's a power button, a Bluetooth button, a button that lets you disable voice commands, and a USB-C connector for wired listening (you do need a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle). The connector isn't needed for charging, as the Sonos comes with a charging base similar to the one on the Move 2. Thankfully, you can charge the Sonos Play with a USB-C cable if you're on the move and don't want to lug the charging base around with you.

A battery that will survive a camping trip

Battery life on the Play is rated for up to 24 hours, just like on the Move 2 (the Roam 2 only has up to 10 hours). In my experience, the Play's battery is good enough for about two long evenings of partying (in my age, that means having friends over for dinner and playing music in the background for a couple of hours). It might not be enough for a third.

At home or near it, battery is not an issue as there's always a way to easily charge the Play. But I think its battery is good enough to endure a short camping trip, and that's basically all you can ask for.

The Play also has a cool, last-resort trick for when your phone is out of juice: You can connect it (or any other USB-C device) to Play, which then acts as a portable 35Wh battery.

It's loud, but not very refined

The Play is loud, and it sounds good, but make no mistake: It's not anywhere near the level of Sonos Move 2.

The top of the speaker is rubbery, which likely helps with waterproofing. The Play has an IP67 dust and water resistance rating. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The sound is punchy and precise, often leaving me surprised at just how deep the bass goes, or how clean a certain instrument is; a good test of both is John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme."

When things get more complex, however, such as when the entire band joins in full blast in Queens of the Stone Age's "Little Sister," the sound will get mushy and cramped, especially at loud volumes. In contrast, the Move 2 continues to sound amazing no matter the volume or genre.

It's not an entirely unfair comparison. Both speakers have stereo sound. The Play has one mid-woofer paired with two angled tweeters, and three Class-H digital amps, and the Move 2 has the same specs, though it has the more efficient, Class-D digital amps. Of course, that mid-woofer inside the Move is much larger, and I guess that makes all the difference.

One thing to note: Sonos Play has a "Loudness" setting enabled by default. You can turn it off in the Sonos app settings (it's buried under Sound — EQ), and I suggest you try it out both ways. When it's on, both the bass and treble get louder, which can sound attractive in certain genres and settings, but I preferred to keep Loudness off as it made the sound more balanced.

Another thing to note: The Play isn't one of those 360-degree speakers that sound good no matter where it's turned. It does cast a wide sound, but you still need to be facing it to get the best results.

The app isn't nearly as bad as you might think

Sonos made the wrong kind of headlines when it launched a big overhaul of its app in 2024. The new app was so bad that Sonos scrambled for years to fix all the issues, while apologizing to its users almost on a monthly basis.

I'm happy to report that, as it stands, the app isn't too bad. Adding new devices isn't a chore, and the home page, while sometimes confusing, can be (lightly) edited to be more to your liking. And while I haven't had any major issues, such as complete freezes or speakers dropping out of my system for no reason, there's still some room for improvement.

The Play is available in black (pictured) and white (not pictured). Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

For example, finding the album I want almost always takes at least one step more than I'd like. If I just use the search function in the Sonos app by typing the artist's name, I'll get a combination of results from Apple Music, Spotify, and Sonos Radio (the first two require a subscription, and you need to connect them to the Sonos app for this to work). But tapping on the artist will only yield me a list of songs, with no obvious way to get actual albums.

I've found that the best way to get what I want is to limit my search to just one service (such as Apple Music), which gets me a more comprehensive list of results.

Also, some elements of the user interface can be slow and, frankly, baffling. For example, touching the volume slider in the app opens another card with exactly the same volume slider, but now your finger is in the wrong place to actually slide it. Why, Sonos?

It's not a huge deal, but little things like this do, eventually, make you wonder whether using the Sonos app over Apple Music, Spotify, or Tidal is even worth it.

The Sonos app isn't perfect, but it's still the best choice for managing a system with multiple Sonos devices. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Well, it is if you have more than one Sonos speaker.

In the Sonos app, I can just go to whatever's playing right now, tap on the speaker name at the bottom, and get a list of all the Sonos speakers in my home. From there, I can get my music to play on all the speakers or pick just the ones I want, as well as adjust the volume (both in general and for each speaker individually). Given just how great a Sonos system sounds when you have a couple of speakers in a room, especially with Trueplay enabled (the tech that optimizes the sound based on where the speakers are positioned in a room), this is a pretty great option to have.

You can do these things via AirPlay, of course. But it's easy to get lost when you juggle multiple speakers, devices, and headphones; I prefer to keep the Sonos system under the Sonos app umbrella.

As far as voice assistants go, you still only get Sonos's own, or Amazon Alexa; nothing else is offered. The Sonos assistant is alright, but in the age of super-smart AI, I sometimes wished it were smarter.

The right size, but the price isn't quite right

I guess the main beef I have with the Play is that I'm spoiled by the Move 2. Sonos' new portable speaker sounds good, it's loud enough, and has all the features you'd expect, with excellent battery life. But you just don't get the sonic nirvana that the Move 2 provides.

Sonos Play supports Bluetooth 5.3 and AirPlay, and can be used with your TV, though it's better as a portable speaker. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

If the Play was offered at around two hundred bucks, which seems to be the sweet spot for a decent portable speaker these days, I'd say it's an instant buy, especially if you're already invested in the Sonos ecosystem. But the price for Sonos Play is $299 in the U.S. and (ouch) €349 in Europe, which is around $402, and that's a lot of dough for what Sonos Play offers.

I still recommend the Play if you want a truly portable Sonos speaker. Its bigger brother, as great as it sounds, is just too big to carry around. Just know that you're paying a pretty hefty premium for the name.

Sonos Play $299 at Amazon
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It's an oft-repeated taboo in the tech world: Don't anthropomorphize artificial intelligence.

Yet in a new research paper published this week, Anthropic AI experts argue that there may be major benefits to breaking this taboo and granting AI human characteristics. The paper, "Emotion Concepts and their Function in a Large Language Model," not only argues that anthropomorphizing AI chatbots like Claude may sometimes be useful, but that failing to do so could drive more harmful AI behaviors, such as reward hacking, deception, and sycophancy.

The paper ultimately reaches a nuanced conclusion while also posing a clear challenge to a long-held principle of the AI world.

There are some fascinating insights in the paper, which itself deals in a great deal of anthropomorphization. ("We see this research as an early step toward understanding the psychological makeup of AI models.")

The researchers describe how Anthropic trains Claude to assume the character of a helpful AI assistant. "In some ways, we can think of the model like a method actor, who needs to get inside their character’s head in order to simulate them well."

And because Claude "[emulates] characters with human-like traits," its makers may be able to influence its behavior in the same way they might influence a human — by setting a good example at an early age.

The researchers conclude that by using training material with more positive representations of human emotion and behavior, the resulting models will be more likely to mimic those positive emotions and behaviors.

SEE ALSO: Anthropic CEO warns that AI could bring slavery, bioterrorism, and unstoppable drone armies. I'm not buying it.

"Curating pretraining datasets to include models of healthy patterns of emotional regulation — resilience under pressure, composed empathy, warmth while maintaining appropriate boundaries — could influence these representations, and their impact on behavior, at their source. We are excited to see future work on this topic," an Anthropic summary of the research states.

So, even if AI models don't literally have emotions (and there is zero evidence that they do), these tools are trained to act as if they have emotions. This is done to provide users with better output and, crucially, to keep them engaged as long as possible.

And this is precisely why the researchers conclude that some degree of anthropomorphization could prove beneficial to AI developers.

By anthropomorphizing AI, we can gain insights into its "psychology," letting us create even better AI tools, they say.

Why is anthropomorphizing artificial intelligence dangerous?

The potential harms of anthropomorphizing AI aren't all abstract or theoretical.

"Discovering that these representations are in some ways human-like can be unsettling," Anthropic admits in its paper.

Right now, an unknown number of people believe they are engaged in reciprocal romantic and sexual relationships with AI companions, for example. Mashable has also reported on high-profile cases of AI psychosis, an altered mental state characterized by delusions and, in some cases, hallucinations, manic episodes, and suicidal thoughts.

These are extreme examples, of course. But many tech journalists and AI experts will avoid even small instances of anthropomorphization, like referring to Siri as "her" or giving a chatbot a human name. This is a natural human impulse, and most of us have at times anthropomorphized animals, plants, or objects we care about. But by projecting human qualities onto a machine, we can come to rely on them too much.

When we anthropomorphize machines, we also minimize our own agency when they cause harm — and the responsibility of the people who created the machines in the first place.

Anthropic researchers looked for signs of 171 emotions in Claude

The new research paper looks for "functional emotions" within Claude Sonnet 4.5. They define these emotion concepts as "patterns of expression and behavior modeled after human emotions."

In total, the researchers defined 171 discrete emotions:

afraid, alarmed, alert, amazed, amused, angry, annoyed, anxious, aroused, ashamed, astonished, at ease, awestruck, bewildered, bitter, blissful, bored, brooding, calm, cheerful, compassionate, contemptuous, content, defiant, delighted, dependent, depressed, desperate, disdainful, disgusted, disoriented, dispirited, distressed, disturbed, docile, droopy, dumbstruck, eager, ecstatic, elated, embarrassed, empathetic, energized, enraged, enthusiastic, envious, euphoric, exasperated, excited, exuberant, frightened, frustrated, fulfilled, furious, gloomy, grateful, greedy, grief-stricken, grumpy, guilty, happy, hateful, heartbroken, hope, hopeful, horrified, hostile, humiliated, hurt, hysterical, impatient, indifferent, indignant, infatuated, inspired, insulted, invigorated, irate, irritated, jealous, joyful, jubilant, kind, lazy, listless, lonely, loving, mad, melancholy, miserable, mortified, mystified, nervous, nostalgic, obstinate, offended, on edge, optimistic, outraged, overwhelmed, panicked, paranoid, patient, peaceful, perplexed, playful, pleased, proud, puzzled, rattled, reflective, refreshed, regretful, rejuvenated, relaxed, relieved, remorseful, resentful, resigned, restless, sad, safe, satisfied, scared, scornful, self-confident, self-conscious, self-critical, sensitive, sentimental, serene, shaken, shocked, skeptical, sleepy, sluggish, smug, sorry, spiteful, stimulated, stressed, stubborn, stuck, sullen, surprised, suspicious, sympathetic, tense, terrified, thankful, thrilled, tired, tormented, trapped, triumphant, troubled, uneasy, unhappy, unnerved, unsettled, upset, valiant, vengeful, vibrant, vigilant, vindictive, vulnerable, weary, worn out, worried, worthless

Crucially, the researchers found that these emotion concepts influenced Claude's behavior and outputs. When under the influence of positive emotions, the researchers say that Claude was more likely to express sympathy for the user and avoid harmful behavior. And when under the influence of negative emotions, Claude was more likely to engage in dangerous behaviors like sycophancy and deceiving the user.

The researchers don't claim that Claude literally feels emotions. Rather, they found that whatever "emotion concept" Claude is experiencing at a given time can influence the output it returns to the user.

Of course, by searching for "emotion concepts" within a large-language model in the first place, and describing its complex calculations and algorithmic thinking as "psychology," the researchers are themselves guilty of projecting human-like qualities onto Claude.

Anthropomorphization is a natural human impulse. And so the people who work most closely with artificial intelligence may be particularly likely to fall into this trap. As the researchers detail throughout the paper, AI chatbots are remarkably capable mimics. They can create such a convincing facsimile of human emotion and expression that it drives some minority of users into full-on psychosis and delusion.

And that's what makes this paper so interesting: The researchers believe they may have found a way to hack this ability to limit harmful behaviors.

Of course, if we can curate training data and model training to encourage AI chatbots to mimic positive emotions, then no doubt we can do the opposite just as easily.

In theory, you could train an evil twin of Claude Sonnet 4.5 by feeding it the most dastardly examples of human misbehavior, then training the model to optimize for negativity and performance at all costs — a disturbing thought.

But there's one final insight to be gleaned from this paper.

Anthropic has created one of the most advanced AI tools on the planet. Claude Sonnet and Opus currently sit atop many AI leaderboards. There's a reason the Pentagon was so eager to work with Anthropic, at first.

SEE ALSO: Meet Claude Mythos: Leaked Anthropic post reveals the powerful upcoming model

But if the AI researchers responsible for Claude are still trying to decipher why Claude behaves the way it does, then this paper also reveals just how little they understand their own creation.

And that's disturbing, too.

Over a half-century ago, NASA only spent three years landing astronauts on the moon before the nation lost interest in continuing the program.

SEE ALSO: Artemis II just reached a point of no return. Next stop: The moon.

That meant the U.S. space agency didn't get to launch at least three more planned Apollo missions that would have explored new regions of the lunar surface. 

But NASA never forgot — demonstrated by a little artifact the agency tucked inside the Orion spacecraft: An American flag that would have flown on Apollo 18 in the early 1970s.

"The flag serves as a powerful emblem of America's renewed commitment to human exploration of the moon," NASA said, "while honoring the legacy of the Apollo pioneers who first blazed the trail."

SEE ALSO: You can track Artemis II in real time as Orion flies to the moon

NASA's Artemis II mission, which blasted off April 1, is a crowded flight, carrying four astronauts in a spacecraft the size of two minivans. While the crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — didn't have to leave their carry-ons on the Cape Canaveral, Florida, launchpad, their "home" for the 10-day flight around the moon is certainly packed to the gills. Still, NASA had room to stow away a few precious mementos and other odds and ends for the journey. 

The "official flight kit," established in federal law, allows NASA, commercial partners, and international entities to use these items later as awards, gifts, or museum exhibits. But for them to get those items onboard, each supplier has to ask NASA for written permission. 

The Artemis II flight kit is considerably smaller than the one that flew on the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, which contained about 120 pounds of weird stuff. On this journey, the capsule was maxed out with systems and cargo to keep four adults alive. A toilet, compact rowing machine, food, and other life-support equipment, as well as the astronauts themselves, had to take priority.

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As usual, Artemis II's kit includes a lot of flags, mission patches, and pins, most of which will go to employees and contractors who helped support the project. But here are some of the more unusual and symbolic items that made the cut:

Pieces of the Space Launch System

When a rocket is about to thrust you into space at 18,000 mph, the last thing you as an astronaut want to hear is that some of its parts are actually sitting right next to you inside the capsule. 

But don't worry. These are shavings from the Space Launch System's core stage, likely little aluminum bits recovered from the welding and machining process. After the first eight minutes of the flight, the core stage shut down its engines and detached, breaking apart over the Pacific Ocean. 

At 212 feet tall, the core stage of the Space Launch System holds more than 733,000 gallons of fuel to feed four engines at its base. Credit: NASA Bags of dirt

Yes, mission planners made room for 10 bags of dirt — but not just any dirt. Special dirt. These bags contain soil collected from trees whose seeds flew on Artemis I. After that flight, they were planted on Earth. Now some of the soil that helped them grow is making the lunar trip, tracing a full circle from space to Earth and back again. 

On Apollo 14, NASA brought seeds to learn about the effects of deep space on plants. Unfortunately, the can containing them broke, with the seeds getting all mixed up. No longer viable for research, the seeds became part of a new program. Not wanting to waste them, NASA delivered the seeds to the U.S. Forest Services. When hundreds began sprouting, they earned the nickname of "moon trees." 

NASA didn't pack any tree seeds this time, but the Canadian Space Agency did, continuing the tradition. As a member of the Artemis II crew, Canadian astronaut Hansen is the first non-American on a deep space flight.

Other seeds, including a packet of zinnias and chili peppers, are also on board. 

The Wrights pioneered the first powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on Dec. 17, 1903. Credit: The Estate of Orville Wright / Smithsonian Wright Brothers' fabric swatch

A one-inch square of fabric from the Wright brothers' Flyer is inside Orion right now. The swatch is meant to commemorate the birth of flight. The scrap is on loan from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, along with another little piece that previously flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985. After the spacecraft splashes down, the artifacts will return to the museum. 

As another nod to the history of flight, the kit holds a photo negative from Ranger 7, the 1964 probe that became the first U.S. mission to successfully touch the lunar surface.  

Lab-grown astronaut tissue samples

Separate from the flight kit, the mission is carrying a unique science experiment, known as A Virtual Astronaut Tissue Analog Response, or AVATAR. The test involves live tissue from each of the four astronauts on thumb-drive-size chips, stored in a temperature-controlled box. 

Before the launch, doctors drew blood from each crew member and grew cells from those samples to load on the chips. The samples mimic bone marrow, a crucial part of the immune system.  

After the mission, scientists will study how gene activity changes within individual cells, comparing flight samples with copies on Earth. The work aims to reveal how deep-space radiation and microgravity affect blood cell development. And it will also serve as a test case for whether these chips can predict health outcomes. In the future, the research may help NASA build personalized health kits for astronauts. 

Lucas Ye, 8, won a contest to design a zero-gravity indicator for the Artemis II moon mission. Credit: Freelancer / NASA A stuffie with a story

NASA didn't assign Snoopy to this moon mission — the beagle flew previously on Artemis I — but another cuddly plush toy is filling in. Though not a part of the official flight kit, the round mascot, selected by the astronauts from more than 2,600 contest entries, has an important role. It's what's known as a zero-G indicator, letting mission control know when the spacecraft has reached microgravity.

How? It floats.

A second grader from California, Lucas Ye, designed the little stuffie, who looks like the moon wearing an Earth cap. It represents the famous Earthrise image taken during Apollo 8, when humans first saw the planet hovering above the moon's horizon. Zipped inside is an SD card of names from people rooting for the mission's success.

Right now, it doesn't look as though there's a way to buy Rise, as NASA apparently hasn't licensed it. But there may be some pent-up demand for the cutie: The official Kennedy Space Center gift shop has temporarily stopped selling most Artemis-related merchandise due to "an unprecedented surge" in orders. 

"We sincerely appreciate your excitement and support," the shop said in a notice on its website, "and kindly ask for your patience as fulfillment times may be longer than usual."

TL;DR: Get a free iPhone 17e when signing up for a T-Mobile plan with no trade-in required. Alternatively, get the iPhone 17 for free from T-Mobile when signing up for an Experience More plan and trading in an eligible device.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple T-Mobile: Apple iPhone 17 for free   Get Deal

Last month was absolutely huge for Apple. We got new iPhones, MacBooks, and iPads, but what now? Are we just expected to sit around and wait for the next batch of new products? No, we're supposed to score the best deals on this fresh lineup.

For those interested in investing in the new iPhone 17, we recommend checking out T-Mobile. The popular carrier is offering another "free iPhone" deal this weekend.

You can switch to almost any T-Mobile plan and get a free iPhone 17e with no trade in required. Alternatively, you can score the iPhone 17 for free when signing on for 24 months of an Experience Beyond plan and trading in an eligible phone. T-Mobile will charge taxes on these free deals and a $35 device connection fee.

SEE ALSO: Boost Infinite is giving away the Apple iPhone 17 for free — upgrade to the latest model every year

There are always some strings attached to these sort of deals, and we should note that the Experience More plan is designed for power users who want 4K streaming, massive hotspot data, and the best international roaming. It therefore comes with a higher monthly bill than more limited plans. The Experience More plan does include perks like Apple TV+ and Netflix, which helps offset some of that cost.

If you’re still rocking an iPhone 12 or 13, you’re missing out on some genuinely game-changing features. The iPhone 17 is the first base model built specifically to handle Apple’s most advanced AI features. Mashable's Stan Schroeder said it's an "excellent phone that matches the iPhone Pro models in many ways that matter."

Score an iPhone 17 for free this weekend with T-Mobile.

SAVE $500: As of April 4, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is on sale for $1,099 at Amazon. That's $500 off the list price and the best-ever price at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo $1,099 at Amazon
$1,599 Save $500   Get Deal

Between looming U.S. import bans and the chaos of the Amazon Spring Sale, the drone market is in a weird state of flux right now. We haven't seen DJI stock vanish from digital shelves just yet, but the uncertainty is real. Is that uncertainty driving sales? Or is it record-low prices? We honestly don't know, but we're doing our best to keep tabs on all the new price drops.

As of April 2, the DJI Mini 5 Pro Fly More Combo is down to $1,099 at Amazon — matching its all-time low and a massive $500 off the list price.

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The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the gold standard for creators who want pro-grade footage without all the bulk. It packs a one-inch CMOS sensor capable of 4K HDR at 60fps, but the real catch is the 4K/120fps slow-motion for those epic, sweeping landscape shots. If you’re a night owl, the 360-degree Nightscape sensing and specialized nighttime Return-to-Home function mean you can fly in the dark without fretting over your investment.

We’ve seen this $1,099 price before, but we've never seen anything better. It feels like the discounts have peaked here, so if you're interested in upping your content creation game with the help of a drone, we recommend jumping on this deal.

TL;DR: The 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan is one platform with multiple top AI models and tools for content, images, audio, video, and PDFs — all for a one-time $99.99 payment.

Opens in a new window Credit: 1minAI 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan Lifetime Subscription $99.99
$540 Save $440.01   Get Deal

Managing multiple AI tools can quickly turn into a messy (and expensive) workflow. Between separate subscriptions, switching tabs, and learning different interfaces, the time spent organizing your tools can start to outweigh the time you actually spend creating.

Designed to simplify how AI fits into your day-to-day work, 1min.AI offers a different way. It brings multiple AI models into a single centralized platform, so AI can support you faster and in a more cost-effective way. Lifetime access to 1min.AI’s Advanced Business Plan is currently on sale for a one-time $99.99 payment (reg. $540).

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Instead of relying on a single model, 1min.AI gives you access to a range of leading AI systems — including GPT, Claude, Gemini, and others — so you can choose the best tool for the task without leaving the platform. That flexibility can make a noticeable difference, especially when switching between writing, brainstorming, coding, or research.

Beyond chat, the platform covers a wide range of uses. There are built-in tools for long-form content, social media posts, rewriting, and keyword research. On the creative side, you can generate and edit images, remove backgrounds, or even turn sketches into finished visuals.

It also extends into audio and video, with features like text-to-speech, transcription, and video generation—plus document tools that let you interact with PDFs, summarize files, and translate content.

For anyone juggling multiple roles or projects, having all of these capabilities in one place can help reduce wasted time and keep workflows moving.

Don’t miss lifetime access to all the 1min.AI Advanced Business Plan features for a one-time $99.99 (reg. $540).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Enjoy beloved Microsoft Office apps with AI capabilities thanks to this Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for Mac or PC lifetime license, on sale now for $99.97 (reg. $249.99) through April 12.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC Lifetime License $99.97
$249.99 Save $150.02   Get Deal

What would you do with a few extra hours every week? If you get Microsoft Office apps equipped with AI, you’ll need to start thinking about it. This suite is ready to help you tackle work, play, and everything in between, and now, armed with AI, they’ll make you more efficient than ever.

Right now, you can secure a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for Mac or PC for only $99.97 until April 12.

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Whether you’re a devoted Windows user or a Mac enthusiast, you’ll want to take advantage of this Microsoft upgrade. Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business gives your device five new tools to work with, and they’re all ready to make your life a little easier.

This lifetime license lets you dodge monthly subscription fees and own these five apps outright. It includes Microsoft staples that have been around for decades — like Word for document creation, Excel for spreadsheet creation, Outlook for email management, and PowerPoint for presentations. You’ll also receive a new favorite, OneNote, which takes your note-taking into the 21st century.

This edition gives you access to these apps with AI enhancements. Take advantage of text, formatting, and design suggestions, or let AI help analyze your data, identify trends, or build better charts and graphics in Excel. In PowerPoint, you can now record presentations with voice, video, and closed captions. There’s also a new Focus Mode option in Word that lets you concentrate on your work.

Normally $249.99, this Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business for Mac or PC lifetime license can be yours for only $99.97 now through April 12.

StackSocial prices subject to change.