It’s funny to me to see Orion being described as being in the Northern sky. I guess for you it is practically overhead when visible
These days, when it gets dark enough to see the stars, Orion is too low in the horizon that is almost impossible to see it. I live in a low floor and as I am surrounded by windows, I don´t dare to use my binoculars or camera, because the neighbours would think i am a kind of Peeping Tom.
China also has a good chance to do a crewed Moon fly-by and a crewed Moon landing before anybody else, if you ask me.
The OSIRIS-REx pictures are so Andromeda Strain.
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Space insurers paid out a record $995 million in claims during 2023, according to a report from Slingshot Aerospace. This surge in orbital launches and satellite deployments was driven largely by SpaceX’s Starlink.
[…]
Overall, the situation appears to be worsening, particularly for insurers, who took in $557 million in premiums but paid out $995 million in insurance claims, resulting in a record-breaking loss.
[General Manager of Slingshot Aerospace] Quinn said: “The losses in the space insurance market are unsustainable. Some insurers are exiting the space industry, while the ones who remain are substantially increasing premiums to hedge against the record losses in the industry.”
[…]
Early studies suggest the pulsed plasma rocket (PPR) propulsion system could produce up to 100,000 N of thrust within a 5,000-second impulse.
The concept has been developed from an earlier Pulsed Fission-Fusion (PuFF), but is smaller, simpler, and less expensive, according to NASA.
PuFF relies on fission-ignited fusion systems that have already been proved in thermonuclear weapons. But instead of a bomb, the aim is to produce a controlled jet of plasma.
[…]
So just around the corner. Make your reservation now!