3303-06-16

Veil West Sector DL-Y D68 D4

This was by far the longest leg of the expedition so far. A little over 1,000 LY from waypoint 4, this was going to be the true test for Stardust, as we were going to be covering a great distance into unknown ( to me anyway ) territory. I am proud to report that both ship and her captain performed above expectations.

It was an pretty uneventful trip, I was able to find a couple unexplored systems. Not ELW's but a couple potential WW and a few ammonia worlds. The star of this trip has to be the dropping from warp inside of the Veil Nebula West. Once I got away from the main star, my cockpit view was full of brilliant blue and purple hues. I had never been to this nebula before and it was worth the trip!

3303-06-11

LBN 623 Sector FW-W D1-100 6A

Finally made it!

I decided to take a roundabout route, jumping 150 LY above the last waypoint before starting my journey. That was fortuitous, because I was able to stop at HIP 16771 and HIP 18442 to see the black holes in both systems. Each system had three, and as I had never seen or scanned a black hole in my travels, this was an opportunity that I couldn't pass up! I made sure to grab some good shots for the holo album.

I did have to make a side trip to Sothis, I got too close to a star while scooping and took some damage. Thankfully Sothis was in range, so I stopped to get repairs and to sell nav data. I also upgraded my fuel scoop to cut down on refueling time while I was waiting for the repair crew to finish.

After that it was a pretty uneventful trip. I made it to base camp, which is an overlook of the mountain range nearby. There is also an unobstructed view of the LBN Nebula, which I plan on stopping by before we leave the system.

3303-06-09

California Sector BV-Y c7: Darwin Research Facility

What a PITA!

Pilot's Fed has permit locked most of the Horsehead Nebula and Col 70 region, so getting out this far was a bit of a route plotting nightmare. I ended up having to drop down about 170LY below the jump point in order to find a route. The detour wasn't all bad, I was able to scan some previous undiscovered systems to pad the creds I am making on this trip.

Speaking of bad routes, I have a bone to pick with cartography. According to the galmap there are TWO GMM2008 22 systems. I unfortunately picked the wrong one and found myself a couple hundred LY off the expedition's plotted course. The right system is right under the NGC 1333 nebula. I decided to make the extra trip to the California Sector while I was in the neighborhood. I wanted to see the California Nebula up close, and I am also able to stock up on foodstuffs and supplies here at Darwin.

After this next waypoint, we are gonna be deep in the black for sure, might as well stock up now.

3303-06-07

Witch Head Science Center

The trip from T Tauri to HIP 23759 was uneventful. After the group departed, I decided to take the Stardust 400LY below T Tauri to make my way towards Witch Head. I came across some interesting sights, scanned a few planets. I did make a foolish mistake while in supercruise and accidentally shut off my thrusters, causing an emergency stop and a need to change into a fresh flight suit! Thankfully WHSC has repair facilities available, I can't make anymore mistakes like that past this waypoint, we will be heading deep into the black soon.

I did notice there are some quality POI's in the area I want to check out before the expedition leaves:

Spirograph Nebula Orion Nebula Flame Nebula Running Man Nebula Horse Head Nebula Messier 78 Butterfly Nebula Barnard's Loop NGC 1360 Nebula

That should keep me busy for awhile...

3303-06-03

Hind Mine

After launching from BD+31 2990, it was a pretty uneventful trip. So far the Stardust has performed better than expectations. Engineering the FSD for distance, and some modules for weight has paid off with a jump range a little over 31LY even loaded down with two SRV's and exploration gear. Other than a close call with a star while scooping, the trip to T Tauri wasn't the kind of space adventure you would see in the holo vids.

T Tauri though, was beautiful. Situated in the Hind Nebula, the drop of warp to the star was a sight to behold. I have seen a few nebulae before: California, Witch Head, NGC 1333. But no two nebulae are the same. I made sure to take some snaps for the travel album.

This is the first time I have visited an asteroid base too, Hind Mine is situated in the rings, and was a nice wrinkle during the first leg of this trip. I wonder what other new things are out there waiting for me to find them.

I can't wait!