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Intro:
40+ years as an IT professional (Retired)
Grew up in Apollo era.
Large library of literature, which led to being able to give a guided tour at KSC.
Regardless, reads everything space-related anyway.
"There is *orange* soil!" is the best argument in favour of manned spaceflight (within sensible limits!)
Groks Orbital Mechanics, and stellar distances. Occasionally ponders - "Yes, but *where* did the dust for the accretion disk come from???"
Lego, Pratchett, Banks, Single Malt, 2OO1 ASO

@markmccaughrean As usual, I was gently waking to R4 Today this morning. But today, instead of dozing back off a little during Thought For the Day, I was shaken wide awake when the speaker stated "The Moon is shrinking at the rate of 50 metres a year"!

Better get some probes there before it goes completely! 😄

Next on the Moon was Luna 13, the second Soviet lander and not just a copy of Luna 9. It had two cameras, though only one worked, and it had two folding arms which deployed in opposite directions. They carried instruments to measure surface properties (strength and bulk density). A few fragments of the landing stage were visible in the images. Where is this site? All will be revealed tomorrow.
My daughter prefers the nadir-to-zenith approach. This was shot a little lower than where you were, and was much, much, warmer!
Just made this new map. No, it's not the first of the new set I will start posting tomorrow. This is a map of lunar image coverage so far from what might be an unexpected source: the CAPSTONE mission which is checking out the NRHO orbit to be used by Gateway in future. Who knew it had a camera? (be honest!) Images have been taken near perilune over the north pole.
Somebody posted something elsewhere and I remembered seeing this in the files a few days ago... It's the first page of a 16-page supplement dated 6th Jan 1969 by the Reading Evening Post (UK). I haven't opened it out in at least 40 years...

HNY too.

Alas. As daily listeners to Today we frequently shake our heads at the content selection during their "Guest Editor" week. It's a shame Nicola Fox didn't choose it. 😞

We have a *lot* of Lego in our home, and the family tradition over Christmas is to 'sabotage' the display items.

I think the kids have excelled themselves this year!

The tradition in our house is to prepare a Lego winter village... Here's the 2023 offering!

Merry Christmas!

https://youtu.be/HBjCBOKptlA?si=wrcDtKI8z0dK_wZg

Winter Village 2023

YouTube
As has become a tradition over recent years, we will be posting a video of our winter village as a seasonal greeting.
Despite numerous technical delays, the village has just been completed, and *just* in time for the Big Guy to fly, but the full release will have to wait until high-priority tasks such as dinner, present wrapping, and turkey stuffing have been completed first.
Until the full version is released, here is a small teaser trailer of what is to come!
Merry Christmas, everyone!

@Merlyn Hi Fiona, since we've crept over into December, here's a teaser of the work-in-progress of the hinted-at Christmas extravaganza! This is just a very small corner of the whole, and some of the wiring still needs hiding, but it's coming along...

Challenges this year include a 100% increase in size over last year, resolving how to take complete control of the automata, *and* how to get the Big Guy to 'fly'.

#1 critic's reaction to the sneak peak was "Wow!" (She's 2 just after the 25th.)