The main goal for this expedition is to map parts of the Perseus Reach arm. Only small ships are allowed to join so I had to leave my explorer Anaconda "Prometheus" back home this time and prepare the "Limo-Nade" for her very first galaxy crossing. The end destination will be Semotus Beacon, 65,647LY from Sol. This will be my third visit to this awesome place at the very end of the galaxy.

The "Limo-Nade" is ready for her long journey into the black.

A few days after my departure I arrived for another visit at the "Restless Vikings Hideout", a twin ELW system that I discovered during my trip to Glacier Point a few years ago. The system was reported to the Galactic Mapping Project and added as a POI. Located 6669LY from Sol close to the Bubble nebula.

Reaching the 1000 000LY's mark of total travel distance!

Black hole close to a nebula providing some nice photographic opportunities :)

Meetup in the basecamp at waypoint 3 in the Via Maris region.

Leaving waypoint 4 in a spectacular massjump.

41 days has passed since the expedition left the bubble and today, after a 16000LY's detour from the Outer Arm I docked at Jaques Station in Colonia. Stayed here for 10 days before heading back out to rendez vous with the rest of the expedition.

A very special and rare occasion was taking place at WP7 where we met up with the guys from the Orion Expedition. They had almost completed the expedition and was doing the last stretch of their journey to the finishmark at SagA*. We celebrated the event by joining together in a colorful massjump before saying goodbye and flying our separate ways. AWESOME!!

New milestone achieved! Opened a bottle of Lavian Brandy today to celebrate my 20 000th jump in Elite :)

Nice looking ringed Metalrich discovery with an extremely thin ring.

Safely arrived at Thomaski Point Memorial and just landed on a calm and empty basecamp at WP11.

After arriving WP12 at the Grand Rings I took a detour to revisit to my "Solitude Worlds" POI

MISSION COMPLETED: On the 13th of june we passed the "finish line" for the expedition and landed at our very last waypoint on planet B 9 F at Salome's Reach & Semotus Beacon, 65,647.34 LYs from Sol. IT's been an awesome journey!!

A SAFE HARBOUR FAR AWAY FROM HOME: After a month of exploring my way back home along the western edge I docked with the "DSSA Solsen's Alastor" fleet carrier for a few days. It was great to see some signs of civilisation again after several months in the black.

RIMOR CAPTIONEM: Arrived at this distant black hole at the far edge of the galaxy a week later. "Rimor Captionem" was one of my high priority destinations on this expedition and was definetely not disappointing. The view of the galaxy through this BH is simply stunning!!

ERIKSON'S STAR: I have wanted to visit "Erikson's Star" for a long time now, so this was also a high priority location as it is currently the most distant westerly system in the galaxy, 42213LY from Sol. It took a lot of manual route planning to reach, requiring almost 30 boost jumps, but the pitch black view of space at the edge of the galaxy was certainly worth the struggle.

ANOTHER SAFE HAVEN OUT IN THE BLACK: Traveling 42 000LY's along the edge of the galaxy and almost four weeks after departing from the Solsen's Alastor it was nice to safely dock with another fleet carrier; the "DSSA Chrysaetos Refuge" stationed in the Aquila's Halo region.

ANDROMEDA CALLING: Continuing my journey along the edge I finally reached the "DSSA Andromeda Calling" fleet carrier in the Errant Marches region after a 27000LY stretch. From here I will make the challenging trip to visit the Star One historical location.

AS CLOSE AS IT GETS! After 30 boost jumps with a lot of manual route plotting I have finally reached the distant system of Star One. I've wanted to visit this place for a long time as this is the closest (known) system to the Andromeda galaxy, located at the outermost edge of the Errant Marches region. The trip out here is well known to be a challenging one, but my little 57LY Dolphin did the journey without any kind of trouble. But beware! If you're planning a visit here, remember to fill up with jumponium materials. You're gonna need it!

MANIFEST DESTINY: After returning from Star One and docking for the second time with the Andromeda Calling FC I went to visit another POI. The Manifest Destiny is located almost 3000LY's south from the carrier and is known to be the furthest reachable system bordering the Western meridian line from Sol. Which means another round with lots of boost jumping. Landed to collect some more jumponium.

DOCKING WITH THE DSSA MAERZENBECHER FC: Two weeks after leaving the Manifest Destiny POI I have arrived and docked with yet another fleet carrier; the DSSA "Maerzenbecher". This beautiful view of the very close ELW is the greatest view I have seen so far from any carrier.

EXPLORER'S END: On the far edge of the Formidine Rift lies "Explorer's End"; a strange system with a Herbig star with an extreme close Blue Giant and two orbiting black holes.

BACK IN THE RIFT: On my way to the Zurara I visited a POI called "Sochi", which has a planet orbiting just 1.5LS from its star. Landed on B 1 and the surface temperature was rising fast, but luckily not within dangerous levels at the time so I could deploy the buggy and drive around for a while scanning the Silicate Vapour Geysers there.

About 500LY further east I found the Zurara and docked with the DSSA "KTL Frontier Sanctuary" that is currently stationed there.

ALTERA'S EYE: Stopping for a visit at another POI on my bucketlist only 6197LY from home, Altera's Eye certainly wasn't disappointing. This black hole surrounded by a colorful planetary nebula is a real treat. Landed at the tourism POI on planet 9 A in the nearest system to get the best view of the nebula.

HOME SWEET HOME! After 260 days out in the black traveling 298 000LY around the galaxy I could finally request a docking clearance from Jameson Memorial, my home station. Leaving Altera's Eye a few days ago I suddenly got a bit homesick and plotted a direct neutron route home for the remaining 6000LY's, just to speed up things a bit.

Feels good to be back! It's time for a few drinks and meet up with some friends at the Jameson bar.

ROUTE & WAYPOINTS

EXPEDITION SUMMARY

If you're an Elite commander and still haven't heard of the "Distant Worlds" expeditions, you have probably been hiding inside a big fumarole or something for quite some time! :)

Almost a year ago I signed up on the Distant Worlds 2 roster and now the wait is finally over and it's time for departure. Thousands of commanders are gathering up at the meeting point at the DW1 tourist beacon in Pallaeni on launch day (13.01.3305), getting ready for our very first mass jump towards Beagle Point.

On our way to WP2, many of us stopped by to take a closer look at "Thor's Eye". Without a doubt, the visually prettiest black hole view I've seen so far, which also makes it a great photospot.

Community goal in Omega Nebula at WP2. Mining like crazy to help build the new station at SagA.

Job done! One last farewell before leaving the Omega Nebula and heading for waypoint 3 after a fantastic week here.

After a detour to the "Lair of Unicorns" to watch the colliding moons (which unfortunately didn't happened at this moment), I reached WP3 today at the "Conflux Abandoned Settlement" Delta site. The place was filled with other commanders doing all sorts of activities. We ended the evening around the campfire while sharing this weeks experiences and discoveries this first day at the basecamp.

27 ships winged up for the massjump towards WP4 after a nice and relaxing week at WP3.

Just discovered a new BIO site with some anemones and some "space bananas".

Some of the gas giants have some nice color variations and patterns.

"Blending in"

"Now where the heck did my ship go....??"

56 ships massjumping from WP4

Some really nice POI's on the way to WP5. This one is "The Crux"

Visiting the "Death Spiral" POI. A special place!

Enjoying the sunset at the WP5 basecamp.

Ringed Waterworld photo spot

Massjump from WP6

Scenic landing spot

"Blinded by the light"

Arrived at "Explorer's Anchorage", our new station at SagA

65 ships leaving WP7 in a giant massjump from SagA* on our way towards Beagle Point.

Flying Colors! Massjump from WP8 "Goliath's Rest"

A visit to the "Dances With Giants" POI

Giant Ammonia world discovery. This 203,5 earthmasses monster is nothing like I've never seen before! I named it "The Behemoth of Phroi".

63 ships winged up in a massjump from WP9

"Guardian of waterworlds"

Colourful massjump from WP10

I'll just leave him alone and let him sleep!

Massjump from WP11. Almost there!

Seeing the "Fly Trap Nebula" from inside a black hole

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Celebrating the arrival at Beagle Point, our 12th and final waypoint and also the end of Distant Worlds 2. What an awesome journey it's been!!

Home, sweet home! Safely docked at Jameson Memorial after six months out in the black.

EXPEDITION SUMMARY:

After two great expeditions to SagA* the time has come to take it one step further and go "all in" to the other side of the galaxy. Here I am about 15000ly's from the bubble on my way to Colonia.

UPDATE: Back home again after 80 days and 160 000LY's of traveling. Awesome journey! :)