💬 Quoted… “The sacredness of the moon is deeply embedded in the spirituality and heritage of many Indigenous cultures, including our own. The placement of human remains on the moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our people.”

• The first commercial space mission to the Moon, operated by United Launch Alliance and Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic, blasted off earlier this morning. And, in addition to scientific instruments from NASA, the flight will include human remains and DNA in memorial payloads from the companies Celestis and Elysium Space – something that doesn’t sit well with many Indigenous tribal nations, according to Buu Nygren, president of the Navajo Nation. The White House held an emergency meeting with Nygren – who also filed a formal objection with NASA and the US Department of Transportation – on Friday, but the mission ultimately proceeded as planned.

🛻🏆 Stat of the Day: For the eighth year in a row, pickup trucks held the top-three spots on the list of best-selling vehicles in the US in 2023. In order: the Ford F-series, Chevy Silverado, and Ram pickups. But, much like having the “sooo… what are we” convo with a situationship, this may not last for much longer. Sales of the Toyota RAV4 compact crossover came within 10,000 units of Stellantis’ Ram pickup truck last year, after trailing the Ram truck by more than 133,000 units in 2020.

🤔 Did You Know?... Dogs intentionally try to make humans laugh. They understand that laughter means play, and play is positive.

📰 Worth a Peek: The 2023 US economy, in a dozen charts → (CNBC)