JOURNEY OF A COMMANDER PART 28
19 Aug 2023Ni6h70wl
21.02.3308 - Novara Expedition Day 151After a short break, the Novara has continued its journey and is now on its way to Myeia Thaa JI-B d13-0, also called Nansen's Star.
Before the technological advances that made Jumponium or engineered FSDs the life of explorers easier, this was the furthest system from Sol ever reached (65,373 LY).
The system is located in the northwestern parts of Solitude Void and was named in honour of Fridtjof Nansen, a great polar explorer of old Earth. That same day, the Novara reached the system and we landed on the moon of Planet 1.
I got out and looked at the star, which a few years ago was considered the furthest from Sol.
After the water world located in this system was captured with the DOS, the Novara now continued its journey westwards. The next destination is Erikson's Star.
Heading west, we jumped into the system Myeia Thaa PF-N c20-0. The system itself had an ordinary planetary constellation and was rather ordinary. Nevertheless, Planet 5 aroused my curiosity. An ice world with a sulphur dioxide atmosphere and a biological signal.
According to the calculations, at these low temperatures the occurrence of sulphur dioxide in the gaseous state is only possible because the atmospheric pressure is so low. If it were higher, the gas would liquefy and "rain" to the ground.
Already during the landing approach, the frozen surface shimmered towards us. Now it was time to find a suitable landing site for the almost 210-metre-long ship. The scans showed that the biological signal occurs preferentially in hilly and mountainous terrain.
Nevertheless, I found a suitable spot, "everything is possible," I thought to myself as I set the Novara down in the middle of a mountain range.
The biological life form found here was Recepta Umbrux in the red colour variation.
What is known about Recepta species is that they are extremophiles, found exclusively on planets with atmospheres dominated by sulphur dioxide. They build a shielding bubble with a combination of inorganic and hydrocarbon materials. This allows them to create an isolated biome with controlled temperature and chemical composition. Growth is a difficult and complex process that requires careful melting, regrowth and freezing of the outer shell to allow the inner organism to develop. This is a gradual process, which means that larger Recepta have an advanced age. Reproduction is similarly complex and revolves around a budding process that produces a smaller version of the adult. After detachment, it may rotate under the action of gravity and air currents before coming to rest where it attaches a holding device that marks its final position.
And the varaiante Umbrux is a Recepta species that grows a thick lattice structure for protection. A fine, translucent membrane stretches between the gaps, allowing sunlight to pass through and reach the inside of the organism for photosynthesis.
My research team assumes that this organism occurs exclusively on rocky ice planets and icy planets. This assumption is not yet certain and has yet to be verified.
After the Recepta samples were collected, I returned to the ship and brought the samples to the research deck. Later, the samples will be handed over to Vista Genomics, but my research team is also interested in the numerous exobiological organisms.
A few minutes later, the Novara was back in orbit and leaving this frozen planet.
22.02.3308 - Novara Expedition Day 152
The Novara is currently in the galactic region of The Abyss. In the sector where it is currently located, the density of stars is sometimes so low that the 50 light-year jump range is no longer sufficient and FSD injections are sometimes necessary.
In the early evening, the Novara reached the system Cho Eurk PW-E c11-0, which had already been discovered by Cmdr edgatas almost 6 years ago. But what was not possible 6 years ago is to land on planets with atmospheres, so I decided to land on planet B2. Unfortunately, this celestial body was over 266,000 light seconds away from the entry point. Nevertheless, it may be worthwhile to take a look at this celestial body.
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And indeed, the planet had 4 biological signals, but what was much more impressive was the green sky that presented itself to my crew and me. Apparently, this colour scheme results from the combination of the thin argon atmosphere and the luminous spectrum of the red dwarf.
On this planet, I was able to discover the Osseus Pomice variety in the colour variation white for the first time. This plant reminds me a little of the lotus root, an edible plant from Earth. Since these are Osseus and their underground network is very extensive, I had to move relatively far away from the surface organism to achieve genetic diversity.
Osseus are slow-growing organisms found exclusively on rocky areas of planets. They are characterised by a symbiotic relationship that has evolved between two single-celled organisms that are now inseparable. One cell type is exclusively responsible for energy production through photosynthetic, chemosynthetic or thermosynthetic processes. The symbiotic cells harvest some of this energy and in return deposit a hard, rock-like substance from the local geology to form a rigid endoskeleton. This structure provides a solid foundation for the organism's existence. It has complex folds that help increase the available surface area for metabolic interactions. Osseus have been observed to form callus-like cell coverings and retract into the endoskeleton for protection.
Osseus pomice forms a single thick stalk from which emerges a broad, largely circular, holey endoskeleton. This structure is designed to dramatically increase the surface area to volume ratio of the organism and facilitate chemical uptake and chemosynthesis on its catalytically active surface.
After all three samples were collected, I set out to find the other biological life forms. I then returned to the Novara for a break.
26.02.3308 - Novara Expedition Day 156
"No, you don't."
"Why not?"
"What if you hit it too hard and hurt yourself? No, you don't."
Standing before me is an extremely worried and angry looking first officer barely a month away from giving birth. Her concerns are not entirely unfounded, the Novara is on the surface of the icy moon A 5 a in the system Chau Thua TV-C c26-1.
The planet has a gravity of 0.03 G, which is very little and turns my 85kg into an easy 2.5kg. Looking at the geysers here, I had the idea if I could catapult myself up from the geyser and land safely again without hurting myself. Clearly, my first officer is not thrilled with the idea.
"It's for science and you can then at least estimate at what gravitational force such an endeavour is harmful to your health."
My attempt to justify my venture is rather pathetic. Still, I stuck to my decision and set off for the SRV hangar.
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Powerful geysers could already be observed in the near vicinity of the landing site. I found a suitable spot and prepared myself mentally for the jump. The bubbling began and the geyser shot out of the ground, quickly sending me almost 1.7 kilometres into the air as the slow descent began again. This became faster and faster and in order not to hit the ground too hard, I regularly used the suit's micro thrusters and slowed down the descent. Just before impact I activated the suit shields and ignited the thrusters one last time. Tock with a dull sound I landed on the surface. The suit shield took a little damage, but I was unhurt. What luck, I only weighed 2.5 kg on this planet.
"Don't ever do that again." my first officer admonished me, looking at me reproachfully.
"You could have broken every bone in your body or died."
"But I didn't and besides, I deliberately chose this planet for its low gravity." My attempts at appeasement aren't the best either.
"Let's not go there, you've come back in one piece. Please let's keep flying, I can't see this planet anymore."
And with that I sat down in my pilot's seat and started the thrusters.