We've all been there, but until this month, we've never had a flight delayed due to inclement weather on another planet.

NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter, slated for flight 19 on the red planet, had to delay its anticipated January 5, 2022, take off after an unexpected dust storm swept through the region.

The flight has been rescheduled for January 23.

Obviously, predicting the weather is hard even in the best of circumstances, but trying to predict it on a planet millions of miles away is very near rocket science.

"As weather forecasters, our job is to provide an evaluation of current weather conditions against flight requirements," Jonathan Bapst and Michael Mischna, of the Ingenuity Weather/Environment Team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement .

"What are these requirements for acceptable and safe flying? Favorable conditions hinge on two key properties: air density and wind speed.

"Although we do not have the advantage of a large number of weather stations or orbiting weather satellites at Mars, as is the case on Earth, we do have a number of tools at our disposal to determine if conditions are acceptable for flight."

The nearby Mars Perseverance rover, for one, has the Mars Environmental Dynamic Analyzer (MEDA), which can measure the air density, wind speed, and direction throughout the day, which can then give engineers back on Earth the data they need to determine changes in the climate due to seasonal changes on the planet.

Analysis: this is actually a pretty serious situation

While joking about delayed flights is fun and all, we need to remember that solar power is essential for operating drones on Mars, and dust in the atmosphere can be potentially fatal to a mission.

That is exactly what happened to the Mars Opportunity rover, whose record-breaking 14-year mission on Mars came to a sudden end in 2018 when a massive dust storm plunged it into darkness and prevented its solar panels from recharging its batteries.

Mars Ingenuity landed back in February 2021, which was at the start of the Martian Spring. It has operated through the Spring and Summer months on Mars when the air density is more favorable, winds are less intense, and dust storms are far less frequent.

The Martian Autumn, set to begin on February 24, will see a considerably higher frequency of dust storms and high winds. The Martian year is nearly twice as long as a year here on Earth, and so its seasons are also about twice as long as ours.

Ingenuity's original mission was only to demonstrate that flight on Mars would be possible and was only expected to last about a month. After it succeeded beyond expectations, its mission was extended to include an "operational phase."

It wasn't meant to fly or operate during the harsher autumn and winter months on Mars, so the next year will be a real test for Ingenuity. "We will remain diligent in our efforts to safely fly Ingenuity for the foreseeable future," Bapst and Mischna said.

iPhone SE 3 or iPhone SE Plus 5G - what will Apple name its next phone?

We’re expecting the iPhone SE 3 to land soon, with rumors suggesting a launch sometime between March and May, but when it does launch it probably won’t do so as the iPhone SE 3.

That’s not surprising – that’s never been Apple’s naming scheme for the range, we’ve just been using it to make it clear it’s the third model. The name we were actually expecting was just the iPhone SE, or the iPhone SE (2022), following on from the iPhone SE (2020) . Except it’s now looking like that might not be its name either.

For a long time we’ve been hearing rumors of an iPhone SE Plus , and while this was thought to be a different phone in the SE range (perhaps one that could land alongside an iPhone SE 3), a recent leak suggests that the iPhone SE 3 will actually launch as the iPhone SE Plus 5G. But will it really?

There’s plenty of push for Plus

There’s no shortage of leaks and rumors around an iPhone SE Plus or an iPhone SE Plus 5G. We first heard of an iPhone SE Plus all the way back in early 2020, before the iPhone SE (2020) had even landed.

Since then, leaks about this phone have periodically popped up, with the most recent ones suggesting it will land in 2022 , and with suspiciously similar specs to what we were expecting from the iPhone SE 3, including a 4.7-inch screen and 5G.

Then, we heard that the next iPhone SE model would launch this year as the iPhone SE Plus 5G .

No names that don’t include Plus appear to have been put forward, with the bulk of the leaks just referring to a new iPhone SE or similar, without being clear on whether that’s the actual name or just how they’re referring to it in the absence of one.

The problem with Plus

Based on all that it seems the case for the iPhone SE Plus or iPhone SE Plus 5G is compelling, but there are some issues with that name too.

For one thing, historically Apple has used the Plus suffix to denote a larger screen, as in the iPhone 8 Plus for example, which was bigger than the iPhone 8 . Yet most of the leaks we’re hearing so far suggest that this new iPhone SE will have a 4.7-inch screen, just like the current model.

That said, Apple has now moved on to using the suffix Max to describe bigger screens, so perhaps it’s repurposing the word Plus, though doing so still seems a bit confusing and unnecessary.

Indeed, we can’t see why the word is needed at all for this new phone, given that Apple already had a perfectly good naming scheme for the range – as noted, it could just refer to the new model as the iPhone SE, the iPhone SE 5G, or the iPhone SE (2022). Or it could follow the main iPhone range and use numbers, bringing us back to the iPhone SE 3.

Any of those options would seem to make more sense than putting Plus in the name.

Our prediction

While we have serious issues with the phone being called the iPhone SE Plus 5G (especially if it does stick with the same screen size as rumored), that, or perhaps just the iPhone SE Plus, is our best guess for the name.

It’s the only name that’s been properly rumored, and we’re probably quite close to launch now, so we’d think some leakers would know what they’re talking about by now.

There is also one way we can see that the Plus name might make sense, and that’s if Apple continues selling the iPhone SE (2020) alongside it. That way, you could get the old model at a likely dirt cheap price, or upgrade to the Plus model for 5G and a power boost.

Then, when Apple properly overhauls the phone as it’s rumored to be doing in 2023 or 2024, with a model said to be launching with a modern design, it could market that one as a truly new iPhone SE, rather than just a Plus version of the 2020 model.

So maybe that’s Apple’s plan. Or maybe it’s just dropped the ball on the naming of this phone – and it wouldn’t be the first time, given what a mouthful iPhone 13 Pro Max is. But either way, it looks likely that a Plus is on the way.

New Pam and Tommy trailer focuses on the fallout of the greatest love story ever sold

The second and final official trailer for Pam and Tommy, the upcoming biographical series, has landed online – and it doubles down on the promise of a show packed with drama and scandal.

With the limited series set to arrive on Hulu and Disney Plus in early February, the new teaser focuses on the fallout from the 1990s sex tape scandal involving Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee – with the duo portrayed by Lily James (Yesterday, The Pursuit of Love) and Sebastian Stan ( Falcon and the Winter Soldier ).

Check out the trailer for Pam and Tommy below:

Based on the infamous true story, Pam and Tommy will follow the events leading up to, during and after the shocking release of the couple's intimate recording on the internet in 1995.

Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen), a disgruntled contractor, comes into possession of the pair's sex tape, which was filmed on their honeymoon after a whirlwind 96-hour romance that led to Anderson and Lee getting married. Fired by Motley Crew drummer Lee, and left unpaid for work he'd done, Gauthier teams up with Adult Video News (AVN) Hall of Famer 'Uncle Miltie' (Nick Offerman) to upload the sex tape, as well as distribute bootleg copies to would-be buyers, in retaliation.

Pam and Tommy will launch simultaneously on Hulu (in the US) and Disney Plus Star (in the UK) on Wednesday, February 2. The first three episodes will land on both streaming platforms on release day, with subsequent entries arriving weekly.

Analysis: a public or private affair

The eight-part limited series, which Disney bills as a "love story, crime caper and cautionary tale", will explore both the personal and legal fallout from the scandal, which saw Anderson and Lee's marriage takes a significant beating – although the pair didn't end up divorcing until 1998. Pam and Tommy's fictionalized version of events surrounding the real-life pair is sure to draw in viewers with its strong ensemble cast and engrossing storyline. But while it will likely entertain audiences throughout February and into early March, it also offers a thought-provoking look at issues around the intersection of celebrity and privacy – subjects that have become an increasing fascination for both the media and the public in recent years.

In an age where most forms of technology are at our fingertips, privacy and data protection laws are far more of an issue in 2022 than they were in the 1990s; but the central issue in cases such as that of Anderson and Lee – the extent to which celebrities who lead very public lives are entitled to privacy - remains contentious.