Personal Log - Expedition Day 2
27 Jun 2019Timothy Hooker
Personal log, Commander Timothy Hooker, Research Vessel Curiosity, 27 June 3305. Expedition Day 2.RV Curiosity resumed course at 2211, 26 June, 3305. A second planetary landing was made at 2324 on the second planetary body in system DROJU YY-D C1-17 2. Initial survey indicated light iron magma volcanic activity. Around the most active site, various materials were recovered in pretty fair abundance, including iron, nickel, sulphur, carbon, chromium, phosphorous, zinc, vanadium, tungsten, mercury, and technetium. Further sweeps confirmed; however, this was mostly just smoking fissures, and there were very few active sites. Despite the abundance of raw materials, this was a disappointing find. Curiosity departed the surface at 0115.
At 0205, 27 June, 3305, RV Curiosity arrived at Waypoint Alpha, system Herchsel 36 - the heart of the Lagoon nebula. Camera probes captured some footage before I began the first jump to Waypoint Bravo.
During a routine system sweep in Bleia Dryiae GH-S D5-96, the full spectrum scanner suffered an apparent malfunction at 0234. Something was drawing the senor's tuning down to the lowest end of the spectrum. No source was identified. The apparent glitch did not continue in Bleia Dryiae GZ-R B24-13 after a subsequent FTL jump, nor at any time since. Diagnostics of the equipment revealed no apparent flaws. As such, I would advise caution for any future travel near the system. I should probably give it a wide berth on the return.
I landed Curiosity for a third time on the second moon of the first planet in BLU EUQ ZM-S C17-38 at 0300. The landing was on the second attempt, after the navcom gave me a bad angle on the first approach. Most of the ship's systems, and the hull, suffered superficial damage in the botched descent. With all the technical issues I've been having on this expedition, I've begun wondering if the deckhands on Pratchett sabotaged my ship. They've been reliable in the past, but I wouldn't put it passed any of these independent spacers to have grifted me. Either way, I'm going to have to be more cautious.
Surveys of the planet surface revealed silicate magma volcanism yielding a variety of material resources, ranging from iron to antimony and cadmium. Curiosity re-launched at 0445, and I arrived at 0545 at Waypoint Bravo, system Cat's Paw Sector KC-V c2-0, in the Cat's Paw Nebula. After collecting imaging with the camera probes, I plotted my course for Waypoint Charlie. With it getting close to rack time, I started looking for a rock to set down on. I've always preferred not to be floating blindly through space with nobody awake at the helm, for obvious reasons.
On the first jump out from Waypoint Bravo, I found a suitable rock in Cat's Paw Sector HR-W D1-48, on a small moon around the first planetary body. Much to my surprise, sensors detected biological signals on the surface. Unfortunately, the signals turned out to just be a field of bark mounds. Still, I decided I should take a closer look, so I landed in a nearby crater and resolved to check the bark mounts out first thing after some shut-eye. I'm only 36 hours out from Pratchett, but today was a slow day. Hopefully, tomorrow will reveal something of greater interest.
Note to self, re-check the plotting on the route to Waypoint Charlie after the field survey. Something tells me I'm going to be doing field repairs on this ship before too much longer. I need to make sure the navcom is still functioning properly in the meantime.
End log.