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NASA is giving us a gleaming look at the stars ... releasing shockingly sharp images courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA officials breathed a sigh of relief Monday, saying the telescope's optical alignment was "perfect" ... allowing them to capture a crystal clear view of our galaxy and beyond.

Michael McElwain, a scientist at NASA, gushed ... "I'm delighted to report that the telescope alignment has been completed with performance even better than we had anticipated".

The images were a test, to make sure the $10 billion telescope was working properly.

NASA's goal is to study how stars were created and investigate other objects in the solar system ... in hopes of figuring out how the first stars and galaxies formed.

The image on the left shows a view of the now-retired Spitzer Space telescope and the image on the right displays the improved images from the Webb Space Telescope.

Scientists say, this is only the beginning of what Webb will do in the coming years.

Abortion rights were top of mind for many this past week -- and, for a moment, it seemed to be on the New York Times' mind as well ... because a buzzword was worked into Wordle.

Here's the deal ... some Wordle users on Monday reported that the word of the day turned out to be "fetus," which sparked a lot of outrage and speculation that perhaps the Times had purposely plugged that in to make a point about the recent Roe v Wade news.

As you might imagine ... folks didn't think it was funny, and couldn't quite fathom why the NYT would jam that word in amid a very high-tension time in the country. Obviously, reproductive rights are no laughing matter -- especially when they're at risk of being repealed at the federal level.

Lo and behold, the Times didn't do this to provoke the masses -- the paper came out Monday and clarified what exactly had happened ... and it sounds like a case of pre-loaded 5-letter answers that they weren't able to scrub before some players discovered it.

As editor Everdeen Mason notes, "But because of the current Wordle technology, it can be difficult to change words that have already been loaded into the game.

She adds, "When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible" ... going to explain that the point of Wordle is to escape and entertain, not to focus on the news. EM also seemed to apologize to users.

This is terrifying ... a transatlantic flight packed with passengers was 40 minutes into the flight, when one of the pilots revealed he was unqualified to fly.

The Virgin Atlantic jumbo jet had taken off from London -- headed to New York -- when the co-pilot somehow made it known he had not taken his final flying test qualifying him to take a seat in the cockpit.

The Civil Aviation Authority in the UK tried to downplay the incident, saying, "Virgin Atlantic has made us aware of the incident. Both pilots were suitably licensed and qualified to undertake the flight." It begs the question ... if they were qualified, why did the plane have to turn around?

Eventually, Virgin found a replacement pilot, and after a 3-hour delay, the plane was off again.

This comes as airlines in the U.S. are experiencing drastic shortages in pilots, resulting in numerous flight cancelations. There's now a push by some airlines to reduce the number of training hours for pilots to qualify in smaller jets. Currently, there's a 1500-hour rule, requiring pilots to train that long before taking the helm in the cockpit. Some airline execs say the 1500-hour rule is too high a hurdle, and want the number of training hours reduced. It used to be 250 hours, but after a recent crash, the number was raised to 1500.

And, while this is pretty shocking ... this is likely part of a larger problem 'cause the U.S. is reportedly experiencing a huge pilot shortage ... and training delays due to the pandemic hasn't helped either.

Airlines are scrambling to recruit more pilots and get them trained and flying, ASAP. As millions take to the skies each day, the shortage will likely become responsible for higher airline prices, cancelations, burnout of current staff and smaller airlines cutting their schedules.

A toddler was hospitalized after being viciously attacked by a coyote at the beach ... and it was all caught on camera.

The INSANE incident went down Thursday around 9:45 PM at Huntington Beach in the O.C. ... when a mom took her two kids to take a dip.

A surf cam was rolling and captured the moment the coyote lunged at the little girl.

Fair warning, it's pretty disturbing ... the coyote jumps up and attacks the little girl's face and has her on the ground for at least 15 seconds before she's able to scramble and adults finally notice.

The little girl was rushed to a hospital by ambulance, with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Two coyotes were killed by officials later that night, and they're trying to determine if one of them was the one involved in the attack ... as they continue their search.

As for the girl, she is said to be about 2 or 3 years old. She was tested for rabies and will continue to be treated at the hospital.

A flight on its way to Egypt ended in a fatal crash back in 2016, and a new investigation reveals it all came down to one cigarette.

The report, viewed exclusively by Italian news organization Corriere Della Sera, concludes Pilot, Ali Ali Shoukair, lit a cigarette in the cockpit of an EgyptAir flight, causing oxygen that was leaking from an emergency mask to burst into flames.

Egyptian pilots smoked frequently in the cockpit, and it wasn't banned 6 years ago, at the time of the crash.

Egyptian authorities claimed at the time the plane was brought down in a terrorist attack ... however, no group claimed responsibility.

It was also claimed explosives were found on the bodies of the crash victims, although that was late discredited.

All 66 passengers and crew on board died when the Airbus A320 -- traveling from Paris to Cairo -- crashed into the Mediterranean Sea ... the plane violently swerved back and forth before spiraling downward.

Among the dead was also 40-year-old Richard Osman, whose second daughter had been born just three weeks before the crash.

Julie Heslouin, who lost her father and brother from the crash, responded to the new report, saying "We have been waiting since 2016 to understand why we lost our loved ones and officially no one told us anything."

In 2018, France's Civil Aviation Accident Bureau claimed it was likely a fire that started in the cockpit ... there was no mention of oxygen leaks or cigarettes.

A candlelight vigil was held in Cairo for the victims after their death.

Elon Musk's making more history -- SpaceX just sent the first Black woman to the International Space Station for an extended period of time.

Jessica Watkins is one of four astronauts who were hurled into orbit early Wednesday morning -- part of a mission called Crew-4, which was using yet another Dragon rocket to make their daylong ascent.

The team went up around 1 AM PT, and they're expected to dock at the ISS later today, at about 5 PM PT. Crew-4 will stay up there for 5 months, before returning in September.

Like we said ... Watkins is the 1st woman of color who'll have been in space for an extended period of time. Guion Bluford was the first Black person to go up into space, period, back in 1983 -- and since then, more than a dozen African-Americans, in general, have gone up.

Now, as for what they're going to be doing at the ISS ... general upkeep, maintenance and research -- something the previous team, Crew-3, has been doing since November. They're all doing a bit of a trade-off here, and Crew-3 will come back home after Crew-4 settles in.

In the past 2 years -- after SpaceX landed a major contract with NASA -- Elon has sent up 26 people into orbit in what are now seemingly just run-of-the-mill trips into space. That's actually a good thing, because as you know ... EM seems to think the future is up there.

He's said he wants to eventually colonize Mars, so the more we're up in our galaxy ... presumably, that's for the better -- as we can then start inching our way further out.

Elon Musk might be the richest man on Earth, but he isn't consuming an absurdly large amount of stuff for himself -- in fact, it's the opposite ... because he's kinda homeless.

The Tesla chief made the startling revelation in TED interview that surfaced over the weekend -- in which he defended his many billions of dollars by arguing it actually isn't as problematic as some make it seem, because he isn't using any of that wealth on or for himself.

Watch ... EM says if he was spending upwards of a bil on himself with frivolous (and environmentally harmful) toys like a yacht or whatever -- sure, the criticism would be warranted. But, he says that's simply not what he uses his money for ... pointing out he doesn't even own a home at the moment.

That's absolutely shocking, but even more surprising is where he says he sleeps at night -- according to Elon, the dude bums it and couch surfs with his friends from all over the world.

He says he often stays in spare bedrooms of theirs rather than in any one house of his. This is a bit of a 180 from where he said he was living last year while discussing his Texas SpaceX headquarters ... where he was proud to shows off his 375-sq.-foot 1 bed.

Based on what he's saying here and now, Elon might've ditched that modest pad and opted for an even more stripped-down lifestyle ... AKA, no property at all.

The autistic teenager who was found after he went missing for 3 years was freezing his butt off in Utah when cops stumbled upon him ... a moment you can now see on video.

19-year-old Connerjack Oswalt was discovered earlier this month by Summit County Sheriff's deputies in Park City, where he was sitting outside a closed liquor store within a gas station in the dead of night ... shivering by himself and looking helpless.

As you can see, the officers approached him carefully and eventually took him to their car to warm up -- trying to figure out where his shopping cart had gone. Apparently, residents in the area had reported Oswalt before ... and he was on the Sheriff's Dept.'s radar.

The deputies scanned the guy's fingertips and that's where their search for his true identity began. Suspecting there might've been more to his story, they started running different searches ... finding that he'd run into some trouble in Nevada before landing in Utah.

They also perused missing children databases ... and before long, the Sheriff's Dept. realized he'd been reported out of Northern California dating back to 2019.

After some time, they got in touch with his parents ... and Oswalt's stepfather drove all the way down from Idaho Falls -- where the family has since moved -- to make an in-person ID ... that moment, too, was captured on police body cam. Safe to say, it's emotional.

The stepdad, Gerald Flint, has Oswalt's biological mother, Suzanne, on the phone -- and after he realizes it's their kid -- she starts to break down on the other end ... sobbing.

Jen Psaki may or may not be leaving her post at the podium, but if she does ... she's got a few nuggets of knowledge to pass on to whomever might replace her, and they're not bad.

The White House Press Secretary sat down with 'Pod Save America' this week and was asked, hypothetically speaking ... what advice would she offer to someone who might be coming to fill her shoes? Again, assuming she exits -- and rumor has it, she will soon.

Psaki actually opened quite a bit on this front ... as she's clearly learned a lot of the job over the past year-plus that she's carried the torch for President Biden and his administration.

For starters, she says whoever gets the gig next has to realize ... the American people aren't stupid, and you don't have to speak to them like they're grade-schoolers. Psaki says folks are paying attention and quite knowledgeable -- so a Press Sec.'s words should reflect that.

She also says the best PS has a wide breadth of knowledge about what they're discussing with the press, and aren't just reading off talking points. So in other words, know you're s***!

Finally, she says a Press Secretary has to be patient with reporters, who undoubtedly ask the same questions a million different ways. It's also important to be consistent with messaging ... otherwise, as she says, you'll be taken out of context and made out to be Satan.

The last thing Psaki suggests is that ... if you don't know, don't pretend to know -- especially since you're literally speaking for the President and co. She says the best way to be good at the job is to have the lowdown on what POTUS may think on any given issue.

A man jumped overboard on a Carnival cruise headed for Florida ... and so far no sign of him.

A passenger on the boat tells TMZ ... she was on deck 7 early Saturday morning when 2 teens came running past her in a panic. She told them to slow down so they wouldn't hurt themselves, and that's when they screamed someone had gone overboard.

There was pandemonium on the ship by some ... others thought it was a joke, until security jumped to the ready and began a frantic search.

We're told the Coast Guard was called in and they blasted bright lights onto the dark sea and went on the hunt. The cruise line stayed to help in the search, but nothing turned up.

The ship then headed for its destination -- Port Canaveral, Florida and the Coast Guard continued searching.

A Carnival spokesperson tells TMZ the man jumped off the ship. We do know he's an adult who was on the ship with his family.

Guest services thought they were joking at first -- but then sent security to the area where the man had fallen overboard.

Security confirmed he had gone overboard and the coast guard was called in.

A missing California teenager with autism remarkably has been found safe in Utah ... after his family has been on a two-year search.

19-year-old Connerjack Oswalt went missing from Northern California when he was 16 ... and his family has been searching for him ever since.

Park City locals spotted him pushing a shopping cart around the area recently and deputies have encountered him, but say he never showed signs of aggression or criminal behavior.

Cops then got a hot tip Connerjack was sleeping outside of a store in Summit County, Utah last week and they beelined it for the area on a hunch. Authorities say they found him cold and shivering.

Apparently, Connerjack did not tell officers his name and they were only able to identify him with the help of a finger scan. The scan linked him to a warrant out of Nevada ... so authorities continued to investigate, figuring there was more to the story.

Police were able to warm him up in the car and search for his name in the Missing and Exploited children database ... lo and behold they found the listing for him.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are making a layover in London -- their first time returning to the royal fam's home turf together in about 2 years, and it's led to an unexpected reunion with family ... TMZ has learned.

Multiple sources tell us Meghan and Harry flew from L.A. to London Tuesday night, first class on a commercial flight ... with security shadowing at all times. We're told their plan was to enjoy a lowkey visit this week in London before heading to the Netherlands for Saturday's start of the Invictus Games.

But, the big shocker about this trip is ... we're told they've had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles in what's clearly an attempt to smooth things over since they stepped down as senior members of the royals in 2020.

The timing of the meeting makes sense. The Queen, who's now 95, has been having health issues ... especially with her mobility. The Palace just announced she won't be attending Easter Sunday services at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.

While Prince Harry's visited the UK a few times -- including last summer for the unveiling of a Princess Diana memorial -- he hasn't been back with Meghan since the so-called "Megxit" in 2020, and their bombshell Oprah interview.

The face-to-face meeting with Harry's father and grandmother is their first attempt in-person at making peace.

A Russian superyacht nearly 2 times the length of a football field is now in the hands of Germany after being seized as a consequence of Russian's attack on Ukraine.

The yacht is owned by Gulbakhor Ismailova, the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, one of Russian's richest citizens and a close advisor to Putin, particularly on economic issues.

The yacht is beyond ... 512-feet long, with just about every bell and whistle imaginable, including an 80-foot pool and not 1 but 2 helipads. It cost more than $648 million.

The Yacht -- named Dilbar -- is now impounded in a Hamburg, Germany shipyard.

The yacht is flagged in the Caymans and registered to a company in Malta ... this is the drill followed by many of the super rich.

Elon Musk might've just become the brand's largest shareholder, but he's turned down an opportunity to join Twitter's board ... according to the CEO.

Parag Agrawal made the announcement Sunday night, saying the company had several discussions with Elon about joining the board as early as Saturday ... an offer that was eventually turned down by Musk.

While the reason is unclear, Parag says the decision was still "for the best," adding they'll always remain open to Elon's input. He tells his staff that distractions will come up but they should "tune out the noise."

Elon's already been offering up suggestions for the company, writing online about turning Twitter's San Francisco headquarters into a homeless shelter ... adding "since no one shows up anyway."

Amazon's Jeff Bezos chimed in, offering advice with a hint of "been there, done that" ... pointing out his Seattle HQ utilized a portion of their space into a shelter -- something that seems to be helping the community.

Elon hasn't been Twitter's biggest fan in recent months, sparking debate at the end of March about free speech and how he believes the platform is limiting user's ability to speak out.

A DHL cargo plane made a terrifying landing at Costa Rica's largest airport  ... sliding off the runway and splitting in half.

Check out the dramatic video of the incident as the plane tries to land at San Jose International Airport, on Thursday. The fire department says, the DHL plane had to return, shortly after taking off for Guatemala City, after a failure in the hydraulic system was detected. But, as you can see that landing didn't go according to plan.

The Boeing 757 ended up skidding off the runway, making a turn and breaking in two ... causing a huge dark cloud of smoke and the entire airport to shutdown -- impacting hundreds of flights and over 8,000 passengers.

Luckily, the pilot and co-pilot were the only crew members onboard and were helped off the plane without serious injury.

Fox News correspondent Benjamin Hall says he feels lucky to be alive after suffering life-threatening injuries in a vehicle that took fire while covering the war in Ukraine.

Benjamin just posted a health update from his hospital bed and says he lost half of one leg, plus the foot on the other leg. He also says one hand is being surgically repaired, one of his eyes isn't working and his hearing is "pretty blown."

As we reported ... Benjamin was traveling in Ukraine last month with veteran Fox news photographer, Pierre Zakrzewski, and Ukrainian journalist Oleksandra Kurshynova, when their vehicle was hit by incoming fire in Horenka, a town outside Kyiv.

Pierre and Oleksandra were both killed during the attack, while Benjamin was hospitalized with severe injuries.