SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites on 3rd leg of spaceflight tripleheader (video) – Space.com

SpaceX launched 22 more of its Starlink internet satellites on Thursday (Feb. 15), the third mission in less than 24 hours for the company.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday at 4:34 p.m. EST (1:34 p.m. local California time, or 2134 GMT).

The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5 minutes after liftoff as planned. It made a vertical landing on the SpaceX droneship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

It was the second launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. Its previous flight was also a Starlink mission.

The rocket's upper stage, meanwhile, continued powering its way skyward, eventually deploying the satellites into low Earth orbit.

The Starlink launch was the final leg of a spaceflight tripleheader for SpaceX. On Wednesday evening (Feb. 14), the company launched the classified USSF-124 mission for the U.S. Space Force.

Then, at 1:05 a.m. EST (0605 GMT) on Thursday, SpaceX launched the private IM-1 moon-landing mission from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.

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SpaceX launches 22 Starlink satellites on 3rd leg of spaceflight tripleheader (video) - Space.com

Everything new in Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.1 – Gamesradar

With the Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 update, Night City has received an array of new features and small tweaks to improve city life. By comparison, the Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 update was a total overhaul of some of the game's core systems and quality-of-life changes, but the free 2.1 update is purely focused on adding extra features to livening up Night City. A functioning metro system, a new personal radio, romantic hangouts, and gang pursuits all contribute to making Cyberpunk 2077 feel a little bit more immersive while on your deadly merc adventures as V.

Of course, there's also a whole host of bug fixes and other minor changes for the base game and Phantom Liberty that I've not covered here, but you can read all about them in the full update 2.1 patch notes. For a breakdown of the essential changes, I've laid out everything you need to know about the Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.1 below.

Cyberpunk 2077 update 2.1 adds a few new features to enhance Night City life and amp up the immersion for players:

Phantom Liberty was obviously a huge source of new missions and activities for Cyberpunk 2077, but the 2.1 update has added a few extra activities and changed some things, adding more to do and enhancing the Night City experience:

Vehicles have got quite a lot of love in the Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 update, with several new ones to unlock and massively enhanced motorcycling:

The Cyberpunk 2077 2.1 update adds a few useful accessibility features and options to make the game more comfortable to play. Importantly, they're now all laid out in a convenient 'Accessibility' tab in the game's settings menu:

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Where to find Skippy the smart pistol in Cyberpunk 2077 – Gamesradar

The Cyberpunk 2077 Skippy smart pistol is a special weapon that talks - it really is a very smart pistol, and which has two modes: Stone Cold Killer or Puppy Loving Pacifist. It'll also unlock a new mission in Cyberpunk 2077 called Machine Gun, but for all of these to occur, first you need to find Skippy itself, which has simply been dropped in a nondescript alleyway somewhere. I'll explain where to find the weapon Skippy in Cyberpunk 2077 below, as well as the two different modes, and what you need to do for the Machine Gun mission.

You can find Skippy in Cyberpunk 2077 on a random corpse in an alleyway, in the Vista Del Rey suburb of Night City. Just head to the east side of Heywood to zero in on that location. It's marked on the map as an undiscovered location, south of the College St fast travel point.

From the fast travel point, turn south down the street and cross the road. Right before Saeko's the big bluey-green building with enormous metal pillars at the front there'll be some graffiti on a red wall by an alleyway. Jump over the gate and you'll find Skippy on the ground by a corpse.

When you first pick up Cyberpunk 2077 Skippy, it will introduce itself to you and you'll have a few dialogue options to chose though. Once you've exhausted all the taking and eventually you'll need to choose between Stone Cold Killer or Puppy-Loving Pacifist mode.

This basically set the gun to lethal or non-lethal: Stone Cold Killer means Skippy will exclusively target headshots, while Puppy-Loving Pacifist will only aim for the legs. However, there's a catch here to whatever you pick: after 50 kills and a few days if you picked Stone Cold Killer Skipp will switch to Puppy mode. If you've already picked that he'll stay there, or switch to lethal mode if you chose the dialogue options "I don't know" or "I'm not having a conversation with my gun".

Basically, whatever you pick first there's a high chance Skippy will flip to the other option after a few days.

When you've had Skippy for a few days in Cyberpunk 2077, he'll reveal who his original owner is and begin the Machine Gun quest. That will task you with returning Skippy back to Regina the NCPD fixer in Night City, who you'll have spoken to plenty of times before, and original owner.

Regina will be in a building adjacent to Lizzie's Club. When you go inside and show her Skippy you can him over or walk away. Giving Skippy to Regina will complete the quest and reward you with 7K in cash. However, you might want to check what mode it's stuck in before you give it up because Skippy is seriously powerful in Stone Cold Killer mode. So if that's what it's settled in I'd recommend hanging onto it.

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SpaceX launches its 90th orbital mission of the year (video) – Space.com

SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink internet satellites to orbit early Thursday morning (Dec. 7).

A Falcon 9 rocket topped with 23 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 12:07 a.m. EST (0507 GMT), on SpaceX's 90th orbital mission of 2023.

Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky

As to plan, the rocket's first stage came back to Earth for a vertical landing about 8.5 minutes after launch. It touched down on the SpaceX droneship "Just Read the Instructions," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast.

It was the ninth launch and landing for this particular booster, according to the mission description.

The 23 Starlink satellites, meanwhile, were set to deploy from the Falcon 9's upper stage into low Earth orbit about 65 minutes after liftoff.

Starlink is SpaceX's huge and ever-growing broadband megaconstellation, which beams internet service down to people around the world. The network currently consists of more than 5,100 active satellites, according to astrophysicist and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.

SpaceX extends its flight-cadence record with every liftoff these days. The company's previous annual mark, 61 launches, was set last year. But we should expect even more spaceflight action next year: SpaceX representatives have said they're shooting for 144 launches in 2024.

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SpaceX launches its 90th orbital mission of the year (video) - Space.com

Sports betting, craps and roulette to begin at Seminole casinos – South Florida Sun Sentinel

On Thursday, for the first time ever, South Floridians will be able to walk into a Seminole Tribe casino and gamble on sports, roulette or craps.

An all-day celebration of the new era at the Hollywood and Coconut Creek casinos will roll out multiple red carpets and draw celebrities such as Jon Bon Jovi, DJ Khaled, Mike Tyson and Dwyane Wade. Guests will participate in ceremonial spins of the roulette wheel and rolls of the dice before heading to a VIP pool party DJd by Diplo.

Both casinos will be open to the gambling public in the meantime.

The tribe is pulling out all the stops after what appears to be a pause in two years of legal battles. Two lawsuits before the U.S Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court seek to challenge the 2021 gaming compact between the tribe and the state that authorizes sports betting as well as craps and roulette. Both courts have recently ruled against suspending the compact while the lawsuits continue.

We certainly recognize that anyone could file additional lawsuits, Hard Rock Chairman Jim Allen told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday. But you know, the compact of 2021 is in place. It is legal, and we move forward.

The festivities will begin around 9:30 a.m. at the Seminole Classic Casino in Hollywood with a celebrity red carpet, followed by a first spin of the roulette wheel and roll of the craps dice about 10 a.m.

Celebrity participants for the morning event include Adamari Lpez, Willy Chirino, Adam Beach, Mannie Fresh, Jon Jay, Edgerrin James, Enrique Santos and Los Pichy Boys. They will join tribe and company leaders including Allen, Seminole Tribe Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. and members of the Tribal Council.

The public will be allowed to gamble, roam the casino and sneak glimpses of celebrities during the events of the day. Once the inaugural ceremony is complete, they will also be able to play craps and roulette at the Hollywood casino.

Im sure a lot of people would have fun watching all the events that are going on, a Seminole Tribe spokesperson said Wednesday, but how close theyll be depends on how many people are there.

Both the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and Coconut Creek casinos will look different with dozens of new tables and kiosks, as well as dealers and employees, a massive undertaking, Allen said.

More than 1,000 new employees have begun working throughout the states six Hard Rock casinos and at the gaming headquarters, Allen said.

The Hollywood casino will have 20 roulette tables, 10 craps tables and 38 sports betting kiosks, as well as 10 new sports betting agents so people can actually place bets with a human being, the tribe spokesperson said.

Some South Florida gamblers may think they have already played roulette and craps, but the casinos have only offered virtual alternatives that give the appearance of those games; they are technically slot machines using random number generators.

Those games will remain in addition to the new tables with real employees rolling the dice and spinning the wheels.

A similar schedule of events will take place at the Hard Rock Casino in Coconut Creek about 1 p.m. with a first spin of the roulette wheel and roll of the dice, which will mark the beginning of the games at that location.

Celebrities attending the Coconut Creek launch will include Chris Kirkpatrick, Joey Fatone, Rob Riggle and Jacky Bracamontes. They will join Allen, Osceola Jr. and members of the Tribal Council.

The celebration will return for the grand finale at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood around 4:30 p.m. for the launch of sports betting and the arrival of A-list celebrities.

The list of celebrities currently includes Wade, Bon Jovi, Tyson, DJ Khaled, Tisto, Heather Graham, Fat Joe, Sarah Hyland, Willy Chirino, Max Weinberg, Bobbi Althoff, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model Brooks Nader and other surprise special guests.

The first in-person sports bet will take place sometime that evening, which will kick off sports betting throughout the casino. Attendees can also bet throughout the day on the mobile app.

Following the ceremony, Diplo will DJ a pool party for invited guests only. Bruno Mars will perform a sold-out show later in the night.

The celebrations will move to the giant Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa on Friday, though South Florida got them first because the guitar building is our most iconic, Allen said.

Beginning about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning, the Tampa location will have its own ceremony with Allen, Osceola Jr., other tribal leaders and celebrities including Thomas Rhett, Michael Carbonaro, Lele Pons, Marcus Allen and Joe Theismann.

On Monday, the games will begin at the Seminole casinos in Immokalee and Brighton.

Over the years, much attention good and bad has been paid to the return of mobile sports betting rather than in-person betting, craps and roulette. But Allen believes that the arrival of the in-person games will also excite people and serve as an inducement to tourism, especially from Latin America.

I know that our guests have been looking forward to them for many, many years, he said of the games, adding that roulette is extremely popular in areas of Central and South America, where many tourists come from.

Though the new additions likely will not transform Florida into the new Vegas, the news release said that the launch immediately puts Florida in the same league as the worlds great gaming destinations.

The tribe is continuing to advance its virtual business as well. The Hard Rock Bet app became accessible to all Floridians Tuesday, and on Thursday, local pari-mutuels will begin to offer their own sports betting apps as part of a hub and spoke system where a chunk of the revenues go to the tribe. Allen estimated about 16 companies seemed interested.

The legal battles, meanwhile, continue.

The lawsuit before the U.S Supreme Court will likely extend into spring, possibly longer if the court decides to review the case. Last week, the court granted a request for an extension to file a writ of certiorari, pushing it from Dec. 11 to Feb. 8, three days before the Super Bowl.

Also last week, attorneys for Gov. DeSantis filed a response motion asking the Florida Supreme Court to dismiss the second case. That case could conclude as soon as Christmas, only a few weeks after the launch of in-person betting and the expansion of the app.

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Sports betting, craps and roulette to begin at Seminole casinos - South Florida Sun Sentinel