(5,442 hours) - Phase 5 - The Abyss & Formorian Frontier (exit)
17 Aug 2020Evolution
--------------| Overview |
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The overall mission can be found here.
The log is structured into the following sections:
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| Phase 5 |
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This phase has taken 26 hours effort since the Phase 4 update.
This phase was to travel from Beagle Point in The Abyss and back into the Formorian Frontier, heading towards the other side of the galaxy from the previous phases.
As mentioned in the last log, this phase and the following phases will be split into 10k LY rather than 20k. This means I can give updates almost weekly rather than every couple of weeks. I've decided to do that so there's not too much info and images for people to look through from having such big phases. If you look at the previous 4 phases and think 20k is better, then please let me know o7.
It wasn't possible to plot a 10k LY route away from Beagle Point to the intended area so firstly, I travelled 27 jumps / 1,076.51LY to STRAAE EOHN PM-E B59-0.
21 jumps in, the system CEECKIA JD-Z D1-6 was reached. Orbiting a High Metal lava world 2,622LS from its star, was a rare candidate for terraforming, being an atmospheric rocky moon:
I also went into the exosphere of the massive lava world to take some readings:
When the first destination STRAAE EOHN PM-E B59-0 was reached, it still wasn't possible to plot a long route so another smaller course was plotted for PYRA DRYE PF-L D9-4. The route covered 50 jumps / 2,057LY.
11 jumps into the new route, I reached the system STRAAE EOHN YQ-U C19-1 which had an interesting water world with a red glow due to its Ammonia atmosphere. I decided to rest there and return to my cabin for the night:
The next day on the 5th jump (33 left), I arrived in STREAU EOP QT-O D7-3 where none of the planets had been scanned or mapped. This system had 2 terraformable worlds:
As the journey continued, the number of stars were slowly increasing and the galactic light was starting to be obscured by galactic dust again, which I really like the look of. It's not something we ever see in the bubble, unless we head away and towards the edges of the galaxy.
I arrived at the target destination PYRA DRYE PF-L D9-4 and tried plotting a 7k LY route but it still wasn't possible. This was as there was a sparse region covering a few thousand LY ahead. Due to that, I bookmarked a destination (PROYOE OO-Z B13-4) as a placeholder for the end of the phase in the Formorian Frontier. Then, another smaller course was plotted for CHEIA DRYE WB-K C25-0 which was 31 jumps / 1,117LY away.
9 jumps towards the new target, there was a terraformable high metal world in the system PYRA DRYE ZB-S D5-1. You can see the galactic light being darkened, as I mentioned before:
I made it to the target CHEIA DRYE WB-K C25-0 system. There weren't any particularly interesting planets but there was a high surface pressure ice world. I decided to stop off there for somewhere different from the normal places where I usually stop to rest:
From there, route plotting was getting even more difficult as I was then in the sparse region. The next destination was 27 jumps / 860LY to the CLIEWUAE ZA-U D4-0 system. This would take me out of The Abyss and into the Formorian Frontier. If worst comes to worst, I could always enable the FSD Booster and also include non-scoopable stars if needs be.
An issue happened to Viatorem's computer only one jump later. I tried to open the system map interface but it locked out my controls. I did a reset and due to that, the computer needed to re-plot the destination but couldn't find the way through! I was then plotting even smaller mini routes to get through the area.
After 7 jumps today (still using mini-routes), I arrived in the system CLIEWUAE FT-S C20-0 and was able to map this planet:
Another 2 jumps later, the computer still wasn't able to re-plot the course. After consideration, I headed back towards the previous target, checking the next target on every jump. Because I'd broken away from the first route, there were new systems to visit so the time was still well spent.
With 5 jumps in the wrong direction, I was in the CLIEWUAE OK-P C22-0 system which had 2 terraformable planets to map. Here was one, a very vibrant orange looking world:
After making it all the way back to CHEIA DRYE WB-K C25-0, I was finally able to plot the course to CLIEWUAE ZA-U D4-0. Who ever said exploring was easy!? Once again, the distance was 27 jumps / 860LY.
System CLIEWUAE CM-J D10-1 was reached after 6 jumps. 4 worthwhile planets were found and none had been mapped or even scanned before. Here was one, which I liked due to the yellow / black contrast of the planet; the galaxy, space and Viatorem too:
Another 6 jumps in, CHO EURK YN-S C17-O was reached, where there were 3 planets to map including the first Earth Like world I'd seen since the previous phase:
I pressed on and reached the destination CLIEWUAE ZA-U D4-0. For the next part, there was a clear gap in the stars which stretched a long way. Rather than list the small segments in this log, I continued onwards to the final destination as I mentioned near the start of today (PROYOE OO-Z B13-4).
When the system CLIEWUAE XP-V D3-0 was reached, a water world was discovered which hadn't been mapped, planet BC1:
On the 45th jump, the end of one of the mini routes (CLIEWUAE WP-V D3-1) was reached but I couldn't see a way ahead. The FSD Booster was re-enabled and the star filters were disabled, which opened more avenues.
For the 54th jump of the day and in the system CLIEWUAE QD-X D2-1, there was a terraformable high metal planet. As you can see, there's not a single star showing in the background:
5 jumps later in the system CHO EURK EZ-S C3-0, I mapped a water world then took a long flight to the furthest point in the system to see (and map) a gas giant. I had to approach it with the galactic light behind in order to even see it! Here's an image of the blue gas giant with enhanced brightness and contrast - the colours haven't been adjusted:
After a further 2 jumps, the end of another mini route was reached in the system CLIEWUAE HC-B D1-1. I mapped a terraformable world and settled there for the night:
From the previous efforts, I could see a route around a large section of empty space and towards EOWRAILT JB-W C15-0. The route was 18 jumps / 669LY. From there, the path ahead looked a lot easier than the day before.
Only 2 jumps in, I arrived in the system CLIEWUAE EW-C D1 A3 which had two Water worlds, a High Metal world and an Earth Like world:
With 4 jumps left, another Earth Like world was found in the system EOWRAILT XJ-I D9-1:
The target EOWRAILT JB-W C15-0 was reached, where the star filters were re-applied and the FSD booster disabled again. It was finally possible to plot a course to the end of phase destination PROYOE OO-Z B13-4, being 98 jumps / 4,360LY away.
12 jumps in, the system EOWRAILT ZJ-I C9-0 contained an Ammonia world which I hadn't seen in a long time. The planet A6 also had only been scanned but never mapped. The value was over 1.6m credits:
27 jumps later (57th of today), system CHAU THAU HW-E D11-O was reached. It contained 2 terraformable worlds, a Water world and an Earth Like. Here was the EL world from the system:
As progress was made, it was great to be visiting many unexplored systems again. If you visit Beagle Point, you'll notice most systems have been visited before. Once you're a few thousand LY out and not following the main paths (which can be seen in EDD), you'll find many new places to see.
Another 10 jumps onwards, a valuable metal rich body was found in the system CHAU THUA NX-L D7-9 (A2). The planet was aesthetically pleasing from orbit and sensors detected Geological signals at the surface:
I enabled Viatorem's shields and headed down to one of the Sulphur Dioxide Fumarole sites. Whilst there, some Germanium and Vanadium was picked up so their capacities were full again:
On the 86th jump (30 from target), CHAO THAU DB-A C5 was reached. The system contained an Ammonia world and a Water world. The Water world was closest to its star and can be seen below:
By this point, nearly every system had never been visited before and there were many planets to scan. It reminded me a lot of how Phase 3 had been.
At 9 jumps from target, the system PROYOE HR-N D6-33 had a unique looking high metal world that was nice to discover:
With 116 jumps covered today, the end of phase target PROYOE OO-Z B13-4 was reached!
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| Progress Stats |
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The progress values for Phase 5 were:
Combining the totals from the 5 Phases gives the overall progress of:
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| Route |
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This section shows the route I'd taken
Shown in ED (just Phase 5):
Shown in EDSM (Phases 1-5):
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| The plan ahead |
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Phase 6 will be to leave the Formorian Frontier, travel through Hieronymus Delta and head into Newton's Vault.
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| Ship details |
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Exploration ships are usually as light as possible which sacrifices some usage when they reach their destination.
Although Viatorem is an exploration ship, it can also be used for other aspects as well. Some features of Viatorem include:
The ship description and full information can be found on INARA here and Coriolis here
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Thank you for having a read through. Feel free to give me a shout if you have any comments or questions.
Stay safe and fly safe.
o7, Evo