As the old saying goes, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. And that means spring is right around the corner, and sports, travel, and after-school activities are about to take over. Keep your students' momentum going through these busy days with IXL, a super popular online platform to sharpen skills in language arts, science, and math for kids from kindergarten through high school. The format is focused and flexible, and will give your kids a confidence boost as they wrap up the year. Give it a try at IXL.com slash KidNews and get 20% off monthly and annual plans. That's IXL.com slash KidNews. Good morning and welcome to KidNews. I'm Kim. Today is Wednesday, April 1st, 2026. April Fool's Day, so keep your head on a swivel and be prepared for the jokesters. We begin in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where NASA is now just hours from its first moon mission in more than a half a century. Barring last-minute hitches, four Artemis II astronauts will ride a massive 32-story rocket and 9 million pounds of thrust off Launch Pad 39B at 6.24 p.m. east coast time tonight. They'll spend a day in Earth's orbit before their Orion capsule slingshots them behind the moon, deeper into space than humans have ever traveled. Unlike Apollo, which sent only American men to the moon in the 1960s and early 70s, this crew includes a woman, a person of color, and a non-U.S. citizen. Pilot Victor Glover, who is black, said over the weekend that he wants young people to see them and think, girl power, that's awesome. And young brown boys and girls can go, hey, he looks like me and he's doing what? The mission will last just under 10 days and will end with a splashdown in the Pacific. Live pictures are up and available on NASA's YouTube channel. We've put a link on our resource page. There's no relief at the pump. Automobile Club AAA reports that the average price for a gallon of gas in the U.S. is now $4.02, more than a dollar higher than it was just a month ago before the war with Iran began. In California, due to taxes and climate regulations, the average price per gallon is a staggering $5.88. The reason for the sticker shock? With only a few exceptions, oil tankers still aren't getting through the Strait of Hormuz. Today's pump price is the most U.S. drivers have had to pay when filling up since Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago. Fifty years ago today, two college dropouts founded a company that changed, well, pretty much everything. Working out of a garage in Los Altos, California, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak whipped up their very first Apple computer. It didn't have a monitor, a keyboard, or even a power supply. What it did have, obviously, was a whole lot of potential. They sold it for $666.66, chosen because Mr. Wozniak in particular liked repeating digits. Only about 200 were ever made, and fewer than 70 of the originals are still known to exist, making them priceless. Apple began celebrating the milestone weeks ago with events all over the world, but will put a big bow on it tonight, with a splashy party at its Cupertino, California headquarters. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, they're sparing no expense. Rumor has it the headliner might be none other than Sir Paul McCartney. The women's 2026 Final Four looks a whole lot like it did in 2025. In fact, it's identical. Yukon, South Carolina, Texas, and UCLA all advanced, and will take the court on Friday. Connecticut is also in on the men's side, thanks to freshman Brelon Mullins hitting a three with less than a second on the clock to shock Duke on Sunday. That sets up Yukon to make even more hoops history. It is still the only school to have its men's and women's basketball teams win the NCAA Division I National Championship in the same year. And so far, they've done it twice, in 2004 and 2014. Do you know what a capybara is? Most people don't, but those in southern England sure do. That's because one escaped from the Mar-Well Zoo and her picture is plastered everywhere. Nine-month-old Samba's been on the lam for two weeks. Capybaras are the world's biggest rodents. Look like giant guinea pigs, and when full-grown can measure four feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds. Despite being spotted numerous times near a pub and sunbathing on a riverbank, Samba has evaded capture. Thermal imaging drones are in the air, and scent dogs are on the ground. But these animals are good swimmers and can spend up to 10 minutes underwater when they need to give something or someone the slip. According to the zoo, capybaras are gentle animals that pose no risk to people, pets, or wildlife. The urgency to find her is simply to reunite Samba with her sister Tango. In the meantime, Samba's fans have turned her into a social media sensation, with scores of AI images showing her shopping, getting her hair done, and enjoying a soccer game. Still to come, how a mistake gave Project Hail Mary's alien superstar his personality. But first, we want to wish all our Jewish listeners a happy Passover, which begins at sundown tonight. Now, today's Kid News Quiz. What time is the moon mission scheduled to launch tonight? 6.24 PM Eastern. How much is the average gallon of gas in the US? Four dollars and two cents, the highest in four years. Which huge company was founded in a garage 50 years ago today? Apple. Which college has a chance to win March Madness on both the men's and women's side? Yukon. In today's Kid News Kicker, no matter how you slice it, space is a hot ticket these days. NASA's about to send four astronauts near the moon for the first time in 50 years, and in the movies, the space-based Project Hail Mary is knocking it out of the park. In it, Ryan Gosling plays a science teacher who teams up with an alien to solve a cosmic mystery. That alien, whose name is Rocky, is the movie's breakout star, and his most endearing quality, according to the New York Times, came about quite by accident. The lead puppeteer and voice actor James Ortiz thought time on Rocky's planet, Arid, moves faster than on Earth, so he gave him a hummingbird energy. After months of filming, he found out that the clock on fictional Arid actually moves slower than on Earth. As Mr. Ortiz explains the realization, at some point I said, well, he's just going to be anxious, okay? That mistake clearly paid off. Rocky is a fan favorite, and a movie that costs $200 million to make has already brought in more than $300 million worldwide. It's shout-out time for some of our Kid News classrooms. Mrs. Hard and her salt talks at Hutchinson Virtual School in Hutchinson, Kansas. Mrs. Sullivan and her lions at St. Gerald Catholic School in Raulston, Nebraska. Mrs. Hernandez and her bucks at Buckhorn Middle School in New Market, Alabama. Ms. Jen and her students at Lyman High School in Longwood, Florida. And Ms. Yates and her dragons at Walt Disney in Anaheim, California. Thanks for listening. Have feedback? We'd love to hear it. Please send us an email at wehearyouatkidnews.org. Have a great day and we'll see you back here for more Kid News tomorrow morning.
