CMDR Log - 08/02/3307
08 Feb 2021SerenityAce
Date - 08/02/3307Location - 'Eriana's Rest' - Schee Flyuae UJ-Y D1-7084 (Planet 2A)
Begin entry:
My Anaconda-class explorer the 'Ariane' has suffered irrepairable damage whilst en-route to the far side of the galactic core, forcing me to land on a previously undiscovered world. A frame-shift anomaly during supercruise travel caused extensive damage to many of the ships systems which made supercruise and frame-shift travel impossible. Had I been mid-jump between systems at the time I may have been smeared across the nearest star or lost in witchspace, who knows. Due to a supply shortage on board, there were not sufficient materials or components in order to effect repairs. Fortunately, at the point of failure I was in supercruise-orbit conducting surface scans of a water world planet in the system of Schee Flyuae UJ-Y D1-7084, planet 2A. Limited to conventional thrusters, options were extremely limited. I had already accumulated detailed surface scans of all planets in system, which combined with my previous Full Spectrum Scans revealed that the next closest planetary body suitable for landing was a second water world approximately 2300 light seconds away.
Given my capability of conventional thruster travel only, I decided it would be prudent to attempt a landing on planet 2A. Probe scans revealed that it had a breathable atmosphere not that dissimilar from Earth, although a lower oxygen content, and no other evidence of life at this stage other than water-based bacteria. Additionally, the air temperature of the planet was an average of -55 degrees celsius across the polar ice-caps, meaning I would have to exercise caution on any outings to recover materials or explore the area as the depth of water meant I would have to seek a landing site there. Furthermore, the planet's gravity was 1.4G, therefore I deemed there to be a relatively high chance of a successful landing.
I was able to successfully land on the planet's substantial northern ice-cap, which coupled with the southern ice-cap constituted over 50% of the surface area of the planet itself! I landed at a point revealed by the probe scans which was west of the planet's north pole containing ice over several miles in thickness with no surface disruption, seismic activity or fissures/crevaces, making it relatively safe, all things considered.
After conducting SRV excursions to establish area safety and environmental conditions, on returning to the Ariane I was able to disassemble the outer casing of the frame-shift drive after deactivation which revealed that the anomaly had caused failure in multiple components, most importantly the matrix capacitor. The extensive damage caused meant that without substantial technical expertise (which I do not possess) I would not be able to effect repairs without visiting a station or planetary base repair facilities. There was no evidence of what caused the anomaly and given my limited engineering skillset, I was unable to gain any further information as to what exactly had caused this. At this point I was thousands of light years from the nearest inhabited system in Colonia, with no prospect of communication and no friendly commanders nearby to call on, the outlook was bleak.
Poring over my earlier scans I was able to identify an area of large rocky outcrops at the western-most edge of the northern ice cap which contained various metals, most notably Selenium and Iron. These outcrops were evidently massive in size, the majority of which being under the ice, though due to ice thickness and non-geological probes I could not determine the cause or exact size. Using rudimentary knowledge of available components which I could salvage from the ships life support, power plant and communications, I was able to design a simple boosted-range distress beacon which in theory had the capability to send a brief flash signal several hundred light years. Though nowhere near enough to reach inhabited space, this gave me hope that it may at least reach a passing explorer. With that in mind, I set about planning the route to the rocky outcrops to gather the materials i would need. Due to the parts required for my beacon design and my partial disassembly of the frame-shift drive, the Ariane was no longer flight capable, although retained basic power and life support systems.
This meant that the journey for the materials would have to be done by SRV. The journey to the western edge of the ice-cap was several hundred miles and given my limited fuel and expedition supplies aboard the SRV, I would need to make best speed. Despite possessing scan data of the ice-cap, my route to the rocky outcrops would take me over several sections of ice shelf which were much thinner than my landing point and there was evidence of movement and breakage due to seismic activity the closer to the edge I viewed. With limited options, I departed after sunrise the following day, the warm glow from the system's F-type main sequence star doing little to battle the planets cold, even inside the SRV with temperature regulation.
Remarkably, the sea temperature close to the polar regions of the planet was around -2 degrees celsius, which led me to surmise that the oceans of the planet had to have an average salinity similar to Earth to prevent large scale freezing, but allowing sea ice to form in the polar regions. The journey iteself was relatively unremarkable, for the most part the northern ice cap was pristine, flat ice with only a few height deviations along the way. I observed no other life or notable terrain features, and aside from stopping occaisionally to stretch my legs and take ice samples, I pressed on.
Save for a few minor route deviations to avoid disturbed ice or fissures, I was able to average a comparatively spritely average speed of 20 meters per second, whilst remaining at a safe speed and economical enough to save fuel. On arriving at the outcrops, using my SRV's laser turret alongside the expenditure of several hand-held laser scapels, I was able to successfully retrieve several fragements of both selenium and iron for the distress beacon design, as well as samples for further examination. By this point, it was getting dark though I had no conception of time on this unique world. Despite this I immediately set-off back to the Ariane, the SRV fuel was just enough to get back, having exhausted available resupplies. Fortunately, on my return I was able to salvage the Ariane's cartographic data and mapping modules, preserving the data I had gathered thus far with only minor corruption from damage to the ship systems. This, along with the material and ice samples taken from the planet, would net me a healthy credit sum on return to civilisation, provided I could make it back.
I have subsequently dubbed planet 2A of the Schee Flyuae UJ-Y D1-7084 system 'Eriana's Rest' in memory of my late wife Eriana. Though she never shared my explorer's heart, she would often enjoy the stories of my adventures when I returned home to the bubble, living in that crowded space.
The Ariane being well equipped with substantial fuel reserves, despite limited systems being available means I will have basic life support and power systems for several years, although food supplies I estimate to last a year at most. I can only hope someone receives my distress signal and comes to investigate. In the meantime, I will continue to observe and record this planet as best I can, in the hope of eventual rescue.
End entry.