So I decided to make a tenth stop on my way to the bubble. In Crab nebula I noticed that my exobiology rank was close to the next rank, so I wanted to get at least Ecologist. My solution to this was to fly back using Spansh's Expressway to exomastery. This way of traveling is profitable, but really slow and uninteresting as you never find anything new. So I dropped the idea to fly this way to the bubble and I went to Jellyfish nebula instead.

I sold my new data since Crab, I'm now at around 3.5B Cr, I'm never thinking about money anymore unless I go crazy and decide to get a fleet carrier.

Also I think this way of making money is good but tedious and boring. You find the plants much faster, but at the same time scans are worth 5x less money. On paper it's faster and more consistent than discovering new exobiology, but you loose the excitement from finding something never seen before. Still exobiology overall is by far the best way to make money when exploring and I'm thankful to Fdev for adding it.

Thankfuly I could turn in my data in Jellyfish itself as there's an asteroid station in Jellyfish Sector FB-X c1-5. This nebula is beautiful! If you want to visit Crab for its beauty, go here instead. (Though my favorite nebula is still LBN 623)

My second objective on this trip was to field test the Mandalay. So far it's amazing, but I kept going slow despite my 75+ Ly range to scan bio signals. Now I want to stretch it's legs on the neutron highway to see how fast it can really go. Only honking from now on, we're heading into surveyed space anyways. Next stop, Jameson Memorial, this time for real.

The ninth stop(s) on my exobiology trip. Finally a station, I was eager to sell my data. Sold 7 pages of systems and made 140 Mil. Then I went to sell my very first batch of exobiology data and that made the system data look like loose change as I made about 1.68 Bil! No more money problems anymore until I decide to buy a FC (probably never). Now I have a plan to use the spansh expressway to exomastery on my way back. Until now I mostly scanned no footfall planets, so I want to see how much can I make and how quickly if I scan known exobiology. Next stop, Shinrarta dezhra.

Also BTW, this trip took 18 222 Ly so far over 10 days

Anyways, Station X isn't in crab pulsar itself, but in system nextdoor, Crab Sector DL-Y d9. It offers pretty much anything important except shipyard and outfitting. It's also the most southern station in the galaxy as far as I know, almost exactly 7000Ly from Sol.

Crab pulsar is a neutron star in the centre of the nebula itself. Great way to get a little boost on the way. It's the remnant of the star that went supernova and created the nebula itself.

A big disapointment however, is the nebula itself. For me it contains a lot of glitches when I'm inside it. Not really photogenic unfortunately.

The eighth stop on my exobiology trip. This was only 9 jumps since my last POI, so not much happened. It's more like stop 7.5, next stop Crab nebula!

This POI is Cyoidai OD-N c9-5. There are three ELWs orbiting eachother. I can't imagine what was the guy feeling who saw this system first.

The seventh stop on my exobiology trip, this was interesting. This leg was really profitable as I scanned at least 4 stratum tectonicae. But this isn't the most interesting thing. I jumped into the final system with the green GG, scanned everything and found another Non-human signal source! What are the chances that I don't find it in a random system on the journey but in a known POI.

I immediately went to check it out, it was on body B 4 G, which is orbiting the GGG itself, which made for a great (and I believe very unique) photo!

Anyways, the POI itself is in the system of Pheia Aewsy LV-Y d11. Another GGG, this looking more pretty than the last, albeit less tasty. Though I gotta admit, the thargoid sensor completely stole the show, especially because it's a randomly generated non-persistent event afaik.

The sixth stop on my exobiology trip. When I jumped into this system, I noticed that almost all landable planets had no first footfall. So my immediate impulse was to write my name all over this system lmao. I was succesful, unfornutely this was almost my end as I didn't notice that body 5 had too high gravity for my undersized thrusters (2.3G) and I lawndarted straight into the ground at over 120 m/s. My shields broke, but fortunately I lost only 20% of my hull. Thankfuly I managed to bring a small repair limpet controler so I could repair my hull. I was more careful on body 8 with 2.5G.

Thinking of putting some good G5 stripped dirty drives on this ship tbh. My mandalay can barely handle 2.5Gs, so this will be my absolute limit and you BET I'll be checking the gravity more carefuly on my next landings.

My incompetence as an over 1000h explorer aside, this system is Phrio Hype BB-W e2-8. There's a green GG as well as 5 T-Tauri class stars. The gas giant doesn't look as spectacular as it looks tasty. It looks like how strawberry ice cream tastes like. Delicious.

Next stop? There are two POIs around crab nebula, so I'll be checking them out before visiting the nebula itself. Then I'll probably be returning home happy with my payout. After all, I need those new thrusters on this thing and upgrade all my other explorers, just in case...

The fifth stop on my exobiology trip. Before going to the green GG on my way, i saw this POI so I decided to check it out. Also something weird happened on the way as in one system i saw a nonhuman signature. It was in the Phrio Phoea GY-U b6-1 system, body 2. I went to check it out, almost crashed due to not being used to 2g gravity and found a destroyed thargoid sensor and some sensor fragment mats. Weird as I've never seen nor heard of this happening and it's way off any thargoid system.

Anyways, this stop is in Hypiae Aip KX-I c23-1. This system contains a ELW with a terraformable moon, which could be an interesting place to live when terraformed. There's also a WW and many HMC worlds, so I went to scan them all.

The fourth stop on my exobiology trip. Acording to EDCopilot, I've now scanned about 50 species, all together worth just over a bilion Cr! Not the fastest way to make money, but at least i get to see cool stuff instead of the mindless grind. Also I saw Cactoida and Electra for the first time.

Also, i decided where I'm going for the time being. I've never been to the Crab pulsar, so that's my goal for the time being. There I'll sell my data and decide if i want to go back home or continue more south-east as I've never been there. But first, there's a green GG slightly off the way, so I'll be going there first.

Anyways, this system is Phrio Phoea AA-A h12. I got excited when I saw "5 black holes" on EDastro, then i got dissapointed when i saw nothing. That's kinda what black holes do and with the star density being low here, you can't even see much of the distortion. BUT There's also a neutron star with a huge asteroid ring nearby, which instantly makes this system worth it. Made many photos here.

The third POI on my exobiology roadtrip. Finally let the Aurora stretch it's legs as there weren't many bio signs on the way. I discovered a ELW and two WW on the way tho. I now automatically skip planets with only one biosignature as it's most likely only bacteria.

I also made a excel table which lists all species, their reward and the needed environment so I can guess more accurately if a planet's worth visiting. Maybe I'll post it somewhere later, it could be useful for more people.

The system name of this POI is Gludgooe PY-Z d13-2. This is a cool system, with spectacular wiews of few GG rings from a volcanicaly active planet. I like rings. Though at the time i got there, the best spot was in daylight so i didn't enjoy the campfires (lava spouts) themselves that much. Also the fluffy white gas giant was nice.

The second notable system on my exo trip. Getting the hang of this, already at 250mil of potential profit according to EDCopilot, even saw some brain trees. Trying to fly on the least used paths between unknown POIs.

System name is Oochosy ES-B d13-1. This system is neat, but kinda underwhelming tbh. "A massive and hot icy world that orbits around its parent white dwarf star closely, sometimes going through the edge of its jet, only 4,400 ly from the bubble.". I mean, it's cool but maybe i just expected something more visualy stunning than a snowball inside a neutron jet.

First notable system on my first exobiology trip/mandalay test trip. No concrete idea where I'm going, probably south-east. I'm just vibing, FSSing every system, visiting anything interesting and jump away.

Anyways, I've been to VY Canis Majoris before. On my first real trip into deep space, when all i could afford was a DBX, I visited this monster of a star. The size surprised me then, now it happened again. Back then I headed back but today it's just the first stop on the way.