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Profile
Commander name:
Current ship:
Sympathy [lp-17f]
(Vulture)
 
Member since:
Jan 12, 2016
 
Distances submitted:
11
 
Systems visited:
15,031
Systems discovered first:
7,323
 
Balance:
128,997,735 Cr
Weird Life Choices

So, after a long time, finally a log entry again.

I threw my Hauler around Fisher station for the Okinura challenge. I co-hosted the instanity that was SpeedBowl. I went crazy in the BRC Pub Crawl. I smashed SRVs in the Buckyball Freefall Festival.

And now, the maddest insanity yet - a circumnavigation Mitterand Hollow!

A few facts about the weirdest place in the Bubble:

  • Earth masses: 0.001
  • Orbital period: 0
  • Semimajor axis: 0
  • Orbital eccentricity: 0
  • Orbital inclination: 354 (as close to 0 as make no difference)
  • Rotational period: 0.1 (tidally locked)

The orbital period is actually 86 seconds. Or about 40 planetrises per hour. FOURTY. PER. HOUR.

There's a total solar eclipse every 90 seconds, for 10 seconds. EVERY. NINETY. SECONDS.

The planet itself travels at 880km/s, which means that conventional landing approaches simply won't work. Head-on or park yourself in its orbit.

Mitterand Hollow has a radius of 684 km, meaning a circumference of about 4300 km. If I can average (!) 40 m/s flyving in the SRV, that means roughly 30 hours. Or, about 1200 planet rises. Less than expected.

I'll probably start near the 0 / 0 point, for ease of navigation, and head either due west or due east. My schedule is to get landed there this week, then go on a vacation, thinking hard about my life choices that lead to this insanity, then start my circumnavigation in early June.

3303-11-06 - Operation Afterglow #5

Mission Log "Afterglow" days 3 - 10

The journey away from the bubble and towards the rift first lead in the direction of the NGC 1501 sector. On the way there, I was able to scan and catalogue the first ELW classified planet on this expedition. Already there are quite a lot of entirely undiscovered - or at least uncatalogued - systems enroute.

Earthlike

Occasionally, dropping from supercruise is rewarding. This holds true especially for the icy rings of gas giants, glittering and melting in the light of the sun. Scientifically, they are not very interesting, but every now and then I need something to please the eyes.

Icy Rings

At mission time T+4d, I already arrived at the first waypoint, GCRV 2334, in the middle of what is commonly referred to as NGC 1501. Planetary nebulae are always colorful, but the reddish hue of this one was slightly irritating and not as impressive as I had imagined. From a couple lightyears out, it looked better, but still not as spectacular as others I have visited in the past.

Nevertheless, a few thousand lighyears into the trip, I am pleased with the performance of the "Thirty-Nine". Jumprange, handling, fuel consumption and generally the feel of the ship is exactly what I need for an endeavor like this.

GCRV 2334 - NGC 1501

Speaking of jumprange and fuel - I make sure to top out my reserves of jumponium synthesis materials while travelling towards the Formidine Rift. Entering the Wayfarers Graveyards, there is a region of densely populated space, with lots of opportunities.

Wayfarers Graveyard

Heading out on T+8d, I feel confident that the void that awaits on the RR-line into the Rift, and especially my planned detours to Phi Cassiopeiae, pose no unsurmountable obstacles.

Ship

And this is what a lot of systems out here in the Graveyard look like. Red Dwarf, barren planet ith an orbit of less than ten lightseconds.

9ls landable

3303-11-06 - Operation Afterglow #4

Mission Log "Afterglow" days 1 - 2

The first days were rather uneventful. The navigational computer calculated 88 jumps to the first waypoint, going the fastest route. I will probably switch over to economic once I hit the Formidine Rift, as there are large pockets of unscoopable stars there. Pouring over the map, I plotted a slight detour towards a black hole and a neutron star. Turns out, both were orbiting a bright B class blue star - fascinating sight. From afar, I could only see the B class and the lensing effect of the black hole. Up close, the neutron star dominated everything.

B/Neutron

A bit further on, I stumbled upon my favorite kind of star, supergiants. In this case, "only" an F class white-yellow supergiant, not quite as impressive as red supergiants, but nevertheless. Unfortunately, there was no landable planet in orbit, but a lonely, molten piece of rock, just a bit over 1000ls away. Still made for a pretty view.

F-class sunrise

Last stop on day two was this marvel. I have never seen such extreme canyons and cliff faces on a planet before. I landed and stepped into the SRV to go looking for some synthesis materials at the bottom of the canyons. The cliffs separating them were narrow, coasting over them I misjudged more than one jump and tumbled down the vertical drop. Luckily, in low gravity, the damage was not very severe and I was able to continue.

Exploring massive canyons

3303-11-04 - Operation Afterglow #3 - Launch day

Mission Log "Afterglow" day 0

For the last week, I have been out and about in my trusty old Viper MkIII, looking for components that Lei Cheung needs for the final modification on the "Thirty-Nine". The small fuel tank severely hampers navigation, but the "Nevermore" is a racing craft, after all. That is a small consolation, seeing as my efforts were in vain - until the very last day. On launch day itself, just before heading back to Gresley Dock to pick up the "Thirty-Nine", I finally found several signal sources containing everything I was looking for.

Last components found

With the Asp, the jaunt over to Lei Cheungs system is just three jumps, even if two of them were White Dwarf boosted. Still, better practice that while I'm still in the bubble! With the modifications done, the ship now stands at 48.44ly nominal range, with over 52ly running on empty. That should do.

Checking final modifications

As usual, I paid our ancient home, Earth of Sol system, a last visit before heading out into the black.

Sunrise over Earth

3303-10-23 - Operation Afterglow #2 - Tuning

Mission Log "Afterglow" 12 days until launch

The "Thirty-Nine" now stands at 46 ly jumprange, a small improvement over the previous range of 44 ly. Still, it would save between 60 and 100 jumps on the trip in total. In order to further improve on this, I currently have two options.

  • Drop the two small lasers
  • Add more lightweight mods

I'm still not sure if I should drop my last line of defense. On the other hand, the AspX in it's current fit is quite fast - but does the power distributor hold up long enough in order to make an emergency getaway?

Adding more lightweight mods would concern mostly sensors and shields - and lasers. That means I need full access to the Dweller (trading blackmarkets) and Li Cheung (trading and providing an obscene amount of gold). With just one and a half week to go, I might as well try to get access to those two - if that fails, I can still ditch the weapons entirely.

Ideally, I would have gone for armour modifications, but that is something to keep in mind for DWE2 next year.

3303-10-20 - Operation Afterglow #1 - Trip Planning

Mission Log "Afterglow" 15 days until launch

Planning of the route is finished. It will explore a region I have not yet travelled in any form or extent - southwest of Sol, across the Formidine Rift and back through Via Maris. With a direct length of just over 50.000 ly, I estimate it will take me well past Christmas and into 3304 until I return to home soil.

My research shows a few interesting places to visit, especially supergiants. Unfortunately, Rho Cassiopeiae is not reachable for me, but it's sibling, Phi Cassiopeiae, is. The main attractions will be Alteras Eye (one of the first stops) and the Zurara generation ship. After that, just navigating the Rift and then crossing back to Via Maris and the Far Bridge will be challenge enough.

Right now my concern is buffing my trusty Asp, the SVD "Thirty-Nine", from a 44 ly jump range to as close to 50 ly as I can without sacrificing any luxuries or defenses. The Thargoid threat is out there!

Expedition Route