Some fast answers below, feel free to ask more if some of it isn't clear
1. In this patch, Astral is divided in sectors, each has its level of difficulty & rewards. So far we have : S1 / Very easy / Very low lvl. 65 drops, S2 / Easy / Normal lvl. 65 drops, S3 / Hard / Normal lvl. 66 drops. Soon S4 to S6 will open !
2. Because you can select to which sector you go with the ship depending on what you need (S1 2 or 3)
3. Se above, there are multiple destinations, but 1 travel = 1 destination at a time. You can do as many travels as you like
4. Yes, you can meet several time the same allod in your travels. But most of the time it's different (the selection is much wider than in previous patch, about 10+ different allods you hit randomly).
5. Buffs are applied randomly from a selection of 12-14 existing buffs. Rewards you can chose which item you want to upgrade and hope for drops for this item. Most of the time you get coins allowing you to buy upgraders
6. Helping hand is a special way to go to an allod : when activated, you don't spend keys, but you won't get loot or prestige for killing bosses. Instead, you get hearts (small ones in S2, big ones in S3). They can be used to enchant your lvl 65 gear to 66 with a weekly quest.
7. Go to hardest sector : S3 atm, S6 soon
8. It's the progression towards unlocking the next sectors with next level gear quality (blue upgrader drops)
9. Yes, you can get astral nuggets for killing a few of them (if you open astral trap on your ship) which you can trade for ship crystals/parts, or glyph crafting stuff
Cheers ! Don't miss the life in Astral, it's just a unique feature of Allods and the best one (imho) to try with friends/guildies.