Most people are giving great recommendations for general astrophysics/cosmology books, so I’ll go a different direction with space exploration history /engineering.

The book “Failure is Not an Option” by Gene Kranz is an autobiography from a NASA flight director who was in Mission Control for Apollo 11 and 13 and documents NASA history from Mercury to Apollo. It does get very technical and nitty gritty but it’s a great read and lets your realize just how complex space exploration is.

Very cool, love to have actual crew members posting their photos here. I’ve always wanted to sit in the cupola and watch the sun or watch a vehicle arrive.

Because satellites this is a satellite from decades ago and the US actually has pretty good planned reentries/design for end of life that doesn’t endanger people Vs China still literally drops massive rocket stages on Earth without planning.

Every US rocket has a flight termination system that self destructs if it goes off course to protect the people below, and they’re all launched over the ocean. China just drops the stages on villages as part of its design.

Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz or Riding Rockets by Mike Mullane. Both detail a personal history of NASA and inspired me when I was your age.

During Apollo it was also an explicitly political choice to exclude these groups completely, so I think I’m fine with it. If they’re an astronaut they’re already incredibly competent.

Low Earth Orbit is already pretty polluted actually. It’s just that this article talks about planetary bodies and interplanetary orbits which is way more vast

I agree with your first part, but a trajectory to the sun takes so much more propellant than most things