I plan to closely (as possible) emulate the Distant Suns trip. Already have configured Messier the same as "DSS Beagle".

Which means:

• No SRV, though I plan do some surface landings just to get a picture or two
• No Engineering. This is a stock build, getting 34.7Ly jump range
• No Detailed Surface Scanners, only technology that was available at the time
• No Starport visitations once I leave the Bubble. At the time Colonia, Explorer's Anchorage and a host of others did not exist.
• No Jumponium, this did not exist when the Distant Suns Expedition left

ON THE RETURN LEG:

• Explorer's Anchorage close to Sag "A". I was a part of the CG on DW2 to help build it. I also found the first Water Hotspot in a Ring System in the game during that CG.
• Paying a visit to see the Void Hearts. Members of my PS4 Squadron checked them out, I never did
• Formidine Rift, still considering the detour. At this point, I am sure I will be sick of exploration for a while.

The goal is make it ONE WAY recreating the original Distant Suns Expedition. I will be sending a Postcard from the DW Carrier out at Beagle Point confirming my arrival and will continue to record my adventures.

Launch Date: Nov 1st, 3306 @5PM EST from Pallaeni

"Anything worth doing is hard."

CMDR MAD DOG MacD

Just a few bits of Polonium, Yttrium and a few others to go and I am complete. Now that things are settled, time to complete what I started.

I will be doing money missions for sure by the end of this week. Finding Old Fashioned mining a heck of a lot quicker than GeoSites.

Sure wish I had not upgraded my Cobra earlier on in the game and used that cash instead to outfit the Asp and jump out to the material rich BioSites.

Lesson learned, as always.

CMDR MAD DOG MacD

Since this time around I am using Famous Astronomers as ship names I was really having a hard time deciding on whom shall be named for this voyage.

A little bit of juggling names around came up with the most suiting of names:

_Messier's occupation as a comet hunter led him to continually come across fixed diffuse objects in the night sky which could be mistaken for comets. He compiled a list of them, in collaboration with his friend and assistant Pierre Méchain (who may have found at least 20 of the objects), to avoid wasting time sorting them out from the comets they were looking for. The entries are now known to be 39 galaxies, 4 planetary nebulae, 7 other types of nebulae, and 55 star clusters.

Messier did his observing with a 100 mm (four-inch) refracting telescope from Hôtel de Cluny (now the Musée national du Moyen Âge), in downtown Paris, France. The list he compiled only contains objects found in the area of the sky Messier could observe, from the north celestial pole to a declination of about −35.7° . They are not organized scientifically by object type, or by location. The first version of Messier's catalogue contained 45 objects and was published in 1774 in the journal of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. In addition to his own discoveries, this version included objects previously observed by other astronomers, with only 17 of the 45 objects being Messier's. By 1780 the catalog had increased to 80 objects.

The final version of the catalogue was published in 1781, in the 1784 issue of Connaissance des Temps. The final list of Messier objects had grown to 103. On several occasions between 1921 and 1966, astronomers and historians discovered evidence of another seven objects that were observed either by Messier or by Méchain, shortly after the final version was published. These seven objects, M 104 through M 110, are accepted by astronomers as "official" Messier objects.

The objects' Messier designations, from M 1 to M 110, are still used by professional and amateur astronomers today and their relative brightness makes them popular objects in the amateur astronomical community._

Call sign will be "CHME" (mixing the first two letters of his first name and first two of his surname) and this will be the name of the Asp that takes me on this grand adventure.

Messier's grand voyage is on target for a November 1st, 3306 launch date.

Really filling up quick, hopefully by Wednesday, I will be diverting to money making as opposed to material collecting.

CMDR MAD DOG MacD

I am almost full up on raw materials. While I have been doing this, I have been enjoying the vistas and landscapes on the select planets that I get my RAW materials for.

Thankfully these systems are in the Bubble so I need not travel far. Really put some serious mileage on my Cobra MKII.

I have 55 Jumponium Charges currently, but as I stated, I wish to fill up. I will need SRV refuels, rearms and hopefully no repairs but it is better being safe than sorry.

Not to menu AFMU rearm (if needed, on the DW2 Expedition, I used 1 Rearm of the AFMU as I did the Neutron Star Highway back to the bubble).

This week I am projecting I will be done collecting and then to work on making some money. I have 7Mil already but I wish to put this around 20 or 30 Mil to cover purchase of the Ship, outfitting and flying with a rebuy (or two, but hopefully never having to use it).

November 1st is becoming more of an actual date. I wish to give myself a few weeks window to get the last minute items in place. I already have a Route Map and mentally prepared already.

CMDR MAD DOG MacD

The mad dash for Raw Materials is on. First I am going to ensure I am full up on everything needed to make Jumponium so that my travels on the other side of the Galaxy up (and back) to Beagle Point is covered.

The last thing I want to do is scrounge for a system that has the materials necessary to leave the system. I prefer not to become a statistic.

I will be sending a postcard from the Distant Worlds Carrier which is in orbit in Beagle Point. Also, the flight out there will ensure that I attain Explorer Elite, 65,000+ Ly Club and host of other accolades.

Am I looking forward to it? Oh yes, this will truly be an adventure, and a long one at that. I bet Odyssey will drop while I am on the way there.

34.5Ly, 65000+ Ly flight, 4 months.

Tentative Departure Date: Nov 1, 2020 @5PM EST from the Pallaeni system

CMDR MAD DOG MacD

Since I first restarted playing Elite on PC (having moved over from Console at the beginning of Sept 2020), I have been wanting to accomplish something that Console people were late to the party for... Distant Worlds Expedition.

By the time XBOX and PS4 arrived, we already had Engineers and other tools to help make our lives easier, back when the 3302 Distant Worlds Expedition sent off to Beagle, there were none.

I plan to recreate the steps of the DWE (Distant Worlds Expedition, much easier as an acronym) with a ship similar to the "DSS Beagle", the ship that CMDR Erimus Kamzel flew on the initial run out and DWE.

Which means, 34.5Ly, no engineering, no Guardian Technology and no specialized Exploration Technology (i.e. Surface Scanners) just a ship, a pilot and wits.

Funny enough, when PS4 first joined the ranks back in June 2017, the honk and scan was the method we used. From the looks of it, I will be a professional when I return from this mission.

How long? At 34.5Ly, long.

Why am I doing this? Barring obvious mental illness (DW2 almost cooked me) I want a challenge.

I want to feel like the first group of explorers going across the galactic frontier by the seat of their pants. Jumponium was the most valuable resource on this trip.

Thankfully, everything has been mapped out and identified, so this part of the trip will be easy for me. NO I am not organizing this as an expedition, I want this a solo venture, much like the first run that CMDR Erimus Kazel did.

I have a feeling, by the time I reach Beagle (with the help of Jumponium) Odyssey should be out, making the trek back even more daunting as I would be itching to try out the Space Legs, but I am going to stay the course (yeah right, first time I can, I am going down to the Surface of the first planet I can and do a happy dance).

This is the ASP Build (stock) I am going to use:

• 3D Power Plant
• 4D Thrusters
• 5A FSD
• 4D Life Support
• 3D Power Distributor
• 5D Sensors
• 5C Fuel Tank
• 6C Fuel Scoop
• 3D Shields
• 3A AFMU x 2 (offline)
• 3E Cargo Rack
• Survey Scanner

Approx. jump range 34.5 LYs

Time to start collecting some Jumponium...

CMDR MAD DOG MacD (yes, the same as PS4 without the '_')