There are now thousands of satellites orbiting Earth, but there’s still a surprisingly basic thing we haven’t yet targeted well. The Earth is often bombarded with solar storms, but so far, we’ve yet to observe the planet’s magnetic field respond to them in real time. Now, a spacecraft built jointly by China and Europe is on the verge of doing just that. The spacecraft is launching as part of SMILE, which stands for Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer.

The venture is the first comprehensive, mission-level space science partnership between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the European Space Agency. That includes designing, building, and operating the whole thing. The collaboration actually traces back to 2015. That’s when ESA and CAS put out a joint call for mission ideas. SMILE was picked from 13 proposals and entered its study phase a decade ago, in early 2016.

Once SMILE launches, it will head for an unusually elliptical orbit that will swing from just 5,000 kilometers over the South Pole to a whopping 121,000 kilometers above the North Pole. The point of the wider arc is to give the instruments a better vantage point for watching how solar wind slams into Earth’s magnetosphere. That’s important because when that interaction is strong enough, it can trigger geomagnetic storms, which can sometimes be dangerous. Moreover, solar storms can even be a problem for satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Scientists currently have a decent understanding of how the interaction takes place. But the picture is incomplete. There are existing missions like the NASA MMS and the ESA-NASA SOHO spacecraft built for similar purposes. But they’re designed for individual events affecting localized areas, rather than a broad global perspective.

Since none of the existing solutions can show the full picture at once, SMILE is designed to fill in this gap. It features a soft X-ray imager, which will map the boundaries of the magnetosphere globally for the first time. The goal is to watch how Earth’s magnetic shield changes shape when solar eruptions pass by.

Better observations could also help predict geomagnetic storms before they hit. Some of these storms are powerful enough to disrupt satellite navigation and radio communications around the world. The last notable one, which hit in May 2024, did just that. Then there was the much worse one from back in 1989, which actually knocked out Quebec’s entire power grid for nine hours, leaving millions without electricity. It’s a reminder of why solar storms affect power grids in the first place. Problems like these can be prevented with better forecasting, as they would give operators time to shut down vulnerable systems in advance.

That said, as is often the case with ambitious space missions, SMILE has run into some snags. It was supposed to lift off on April 9 from Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. However, ESA announced that the launch had been postponed due to a technical issue on a subsystem component production line. As of writing, we don’t have a new launch date yet.

Harbor Freight has used deals to get people in the door since the company’s inception. April 2026 is no exception, as the store is celebrating a few sales, including its Spring Black Friday sale over the first couple of weeks of the month, additional coupon deals that are available, various brand deals, and special deals for the company’s Inside Track members. All told, there are more than a few hundred items on sale, which is a lot to keep up with. It takes hours to scroll through that many deals to see if any of them are any good. 

That’s precisely why we went ahead and did just that and then posted the best deals we could find below. They are a mixture of all the deals seen above, excluding the store’s Dollar Days deals since they’re mostly odds and ends that are lightly discounted. The list below also only contains items that are at least 25% off and consist of things we think might be helpful around the house, garage, or workshop. Harbor Freight sells all kinds of niche and obscure tools, so if you need them, some are on sale as well. 

Many of these deals finish up by mid-April, so if you’re reading this later, you may want to check again for a fresh set of deals, as most will have expired by then. Good luck and happy shopping. Should none of the deals below appeal to you, you can find the full list of deals here.

The Bauer 1,800 PSI Portable Pressure Washer is a pretty decent tool for light power washing work around the homestead. It boasts 1.2 gallons per minute (GPM) of flow, which doesn’t quite stack up to industrial strength power washers, but is more than good enough for DIY stuff at home. Bauer says this electric power washer is best used for cleaning patio furniture, barbecues, bikes, campers, and other stuff, and it should stack up well with competitors for car cleaning. It should also be strong enough to clean the actual patio itself and other similar tasks. It’s also relatively small, making it easier to store when you’re done. 

The power washer is on sale for $70, down from its typical $100 price tag, which means it’s 30% off until mid-April. For the money, you get a reasonably competent pressure washer that comes with three quick-connect nozzles that includes one for soaping, a 15-degree wide-area nozzle, and a high-power nozzle. You also get a 35-foot power cord with GFCI protection, and a 20-foot hose that can also be used with soap. Everything can be stored on the device itself, and it weighs a total of 14.8 pounds, which is light enough to carry around. 

Current owners seem to like it as well. Bauer’s pressure washer scores a 4.6 rating with 197 customer reviews. Owners say you may have to buy a replacement nozzle every now and then, but otherwise, the machine works as described and works best for small tasks.

Having a clean roll of paper towels handy is imperative for any garage or workshop, and the U.S. General Magnetic Paper Towel Holder can solve the problem of having paper towels readily handy without breaking the bank. This one is quite simple. It comes in two pieces that each have powerful magnets. You affix them to virtually any toolbox or some other metal surface at the correct distance, and then you hang a roll of paper towels on it. U.S. General says this design helps accommodate any width for paper towels, so no need to buy special ones just for this holder.

The magnetic paper towel holder is on sale for $10, which is 33% off of its usual $15 price tag. This one is for Inside Members only and the deal expires on April 30. It comes in nine colors, including some pretty bright ones in case you want to match your decor or place it somewhere inside the house. U.S. General says that the magnets are rubber coated, so it won’t damage the surface if it happens to slide around. Each magnet is rated to hold two pounds, which is more than enough for a paper towel holder. 

Customers have few negative things to say about it. It has a 4.9 rating with nearly 5,000 reviews, and if it had a chronic issue, it probably wouldn’t have such stellar review numbers. Owners praise it for doing what it’s supposed to do, and that’s about all anyone says about it.

There are benefits to keeping a generator around, up to and including having power during an outage or having power while camping. The Predator 3,500-Watt Inverter Generator is a reasonable pickup for folks looking for a backup plan. Predator’s generator includes two 120-volt 5-20R outlets, which are your standard three-prong house outlets. It also comes with a 120-volt L5-30R twist-lock outlet, and one 12-volt DC plug. It won’t have enough electricity to power your entire house, but it should be more than enough to keep your fridge, freezer, and a few lights going until the power comes back on. 

Harbor Freight is selling this one for $600, which is $200 off of its list price, or about 25%. It’s expensive, but generators often are. Predator says that the best use for this is for powering RVs and campers, and even comes with an RV adapter. It runs at 56 dBA, which is reasonably quiet, and it can run for over 11 hours at 25% capacity. There are also automatic shutdowns in case a harmful amount of carbon monoxide is detected. Even so, you shouldn’t use this indoors ever. 

Despite its higher price tag, there are still plenty of customer reviews. This inverter generator scores a 4.7 out of 5 rating with 755 total reviews. Customers note that it works best for camping applications, as a temporary backup for homes, and even on some jobsites. Users also enjoy the push-button start

There are tons of uses for a saw, and there are many saws for various occasions. You can check one of them off the list with the Bauer 15-Amp Cut-Off Saw. This little guy mounts to a work surface with a vise, and then you can use its 15-amp, 3.8-horsepower motor to cut through a bunch of different things. Bauer says it’s designed for metal use, but also works for drywall track, angle iron, conduit, piping, tubing, and rebar. It also comes with features such as a depth stop for more precise cutting, a 45-degree miter angle, and a vise that holds material in place while you cut.

This one is on sale with a coupon, so you won’t see the sale if you go to the product listing. Instead, you’ll need to head to Harbor Freight’s coupon webpage and find it there. The coupon brings the price down to $120, which saves you 25%. The saw is otherwise pretty simple. It plugs into the wall and cuts stuff. It’s not the most powerful saw on the market, but for basic DIY use, it’s more than good enough. It also has a 4.5-star rating with nearly 300 reviews, so people tend to like what it offers. 

Even if you don’t go for the saw, the link above to the coupon webpage is worth your time to check out, since those sales aren’t listed on the product webpages.

It’s generally recommended to have something more reliable than a floor jack when working on a car. Car ramps and jack stands do the trick nicely, and Harbor Freight had jack stands on sale last month. This month, the store has the Pittsburgh 6,500 lb. Capacity Portable Ramp Set on sale. This is a pretty simple product. You get two ramps, each of which is capable of holding up to 3,250 pounds of weight while you do something like change your car’s oil. The ramps offer six inches of lift, which isn’t as much as a jack stand, but it’s close enough for basic maintenance tasks. 

The ramps are on sale for $40 and retail for $60, for a 33% savings. Pittsburgh says that it can support vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of up to 13,000 pounds, which should handle just about every car a consumer can own, including some of the heaviest ones known to exist. It also helps that Harbor Freight car ramps have a decent reputation, making it a solid purchase.

For reference, these are not made for loading things into vehicles. However, if you are in the market for something like that, Harbor Freight has the Haul-Master Steel Loading Ramps on sale for $50, 41% off the list price of $85. They support 1,000 pounds and work with trucks, trailers, and vans.

Vises are one of those things you may have seen in your parents’ garage that was there before you were born and will be there until the garage collapses. Harbor Freight has such an item on sale right now with the Doyle 4.5-inch Swivel Vise. This is a simple tool that does one thing really well, which is to hold something in place while you polish, cut, or otherwise work on it. The base screws into the work surface for extra stability, and steel jaws are replaceable, so you can keep using it without having to replace the entire contraption. The base also swivels, which, while niche, can be useful from time to time. 

This vise is on sale at Harbor Freight for $100, which is 33% off of its $150 price tag. It seems like a lot, but these types of vises can last for decades with proper care, and potentially even longer since this tool has a lifetime warranty from Harbor Freight, like most of the brand’s hand tools. It also weighs 39 pounds, so the screw holes to secure it to your work surface are likely necessary to keep this thing in place. 

The vise is quite popular among those who purchased it, garnering a 4.9 rating with a little over 300 reviews. Customers say that the vise is sturdy, functions well, and the swivel moves smoothly when you do need to engage with it. 

Perhaps the most enticing items on sale are a slew of screwdrivers and pliers from Doyle, Icon, and Quinn that are on sale. There are a few dozen tools and tool sets on sale, including screwdriver sets, bolt cutters, needle nose pliers, a pliers wrench, and basically any other clamping or screwdriver tool you can imagine. This is an excellent opportunity to fill any gaps in your toolbox, especially since Harbor Freight offers lifetime warranties on all hand tools, regardless of brand.

The prices vary from item to item, but everything on this webpage is 35% off until around mid-April. Harbor Freight tools tend to work as well as their big brand-named counterparts, and usually cost less. In terms of tool hierarchy, Quinn is closer to a budget brand while Icon is Harbor Freight’s higher-end brand. Doyle is the brand Harbor Freight uses to sell tools that are expected to get professional use. 

There are too many sets, tools, and deals here to list them all individually, so the link above is a good place to start learning more about what tools are available, how much they cost, and what they do. Harbor Freight also has sales like this going for lighting, gloves, cordless power tools, and other tools as well, if the hand tool angle isn’t your thing. The savings range from 30% to 40%, depending on the category you look at.