Commander's Log/Jaques Station trip

Logs from my trip to Jaques Station (Eol Prou RS-T d3-94). Just an exploration/sightseeing trip. No cargo, flying Diamondback Explorer with G1 FSD range upgrade on a 5A FSD (max theoretical jump range 33.80 LY, not including fuel weight) (build on Coriolis).

Incident Log

(It has been -1 days since I last did something stupid.)

• Unsafe drop from Supercruise (total): 8
  • Planetary approach too fast for Glide: 1
  • Controlled flight into star: 7
• Unnecessary deployment of heatsink: 1
• Manual course diversions to fuel scoop: 2
• Attempted to fuel scoop unscoopable star due to space madness: 2
• Attempted to fuel scoop unscoopable star because it's a T Tauri Variable and it looks *just like* a scoopable star, why do you do this to me: 6
• Controlled flight into planetary terrain: 2
• Accidental deployment of chaff: 1
• Started flying away from a star before fuel scooping was actually completed: 1
• Heat damage due to flying between two or more stars: 1

Day 1 (22 August 3302)

• Current location is Col 359 Sector VJ-Q d5-8
• 646.93 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 330.07 LY to Waypoint 1 (Col 359 Sector XD-I a68-0)
• 21,310.47 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

Day 2 (24 August 3302)

• Current location is Col 359 Sector XD-I a68-0 (Waypoint 1)
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 976.38 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 1,034.02 LY from Sol
• 994.04 LY to Waypoint 2 (Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22)
• 20,981.15 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 17%

Notable Happenings

• Landed for giggles on Col 359 Sector VJ-Q d5-8 6 a (rocky moon of a gas giant, see also incidents log below); drove around ship in SRV then took off again
• Reached Waypoint 1 (Col 359 Sector XD-I a68-0)!

Incidents

• Approached a planet too fast, unsafe drop from supercruise. Minor module damage to mint condition DBX, and discovered that auto-field-maintenance units can't repair powerplants. D:
• Got a little trigger happy and accidentally deployed a heatsink cartridge unnecessarily. And that's why we don't bind heatsinks to the secondary fire of the same firegroup as the Advanced Discovery Scanner....

Photos

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  spaaaace madness

Day 3 (26 August 3302)

Announced on GalNet that there's a new community goal running for four weeks to deliver exploration data to Jaques Station! We'll see if I make it in time (I ought to, anyway, even though I haven't mad much time to fly so far this week)....

Made it to my second waypoint, Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22. Made planetfall on Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1, a High Metal Content world, for my rest stop. Surface gravity isn't too bad, 0.57G. Found a beautiful tall mountain to land on, notable for being quite a bit redder than the surrounding landscape. Might do some SRV exploring before resuming my journey to Jaques (maybe I can find some materials for AFMU refills here).

It really is quite beautiful out here in the void.

• Current location is Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 (Waypoint 2)
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 1,966.67 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 2,019.93 LY from Sol
• 995.08 LY to Waypoint 3 (Aucopp LY-O b53-6)
• 19,987.13 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 22%

Incidents

• Had to divert course twice to fuel scoop
• Attempted to fuel scoop the unscoopable class L brown dwarf star Swoiwns WJ-F a93-6 (I blame space madness)

Photos

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  Protip - you can't fuel scoop these

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  Sloping in to land on Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1

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  Tough to find a spot to land on...

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  ...But well worth the view

Day 4 (28 August 3302)

Did some exploring of Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1. Driving the SRV down the mountain I landed on was harrowing at times (45-55 degree down slope!), but made it down in one piece. Mountain was 3.3 km high by my estimation. Found some materials both on the mountain and in the foothills surrounding it. After a while of that, recalled my ship then took off again. After leaving orbit and plotting a course for the next jump, I looked back up towards the planet and noticed a massive impact crater near the south pole; looked to be hundreds if not thousands of kilometers in diameter. So, I turned back around and landed in the crater. The sky was definitely red within the crater; since scans indicated the planet had no atmosphere, I can only conclude this is dust from the impact event itself. Obscuration of the star seems to support my hypothesis. Did some more scouting; the area was rich in materials, but the CG at Jaques won't wait for me, so after a short while I resumed my journey.

A few jumps later, at Bleia Eohn KG-O c9-0, discovered a water world, Bleia Eohn KG-O c9-0 3. Surface scans indicated, "Terrestrial water world with an active water-based chemistry and carbon-water-based life". Have to say, I wasn't expecting to find that out here. The entire system is actually pretty neat, several planets here have atmospheres, including Bleia Eohn KG-O c9-0 5, a High Metal Content world with definite ice caps (alas, without a detailed surface scanner, I can't determine the atmospheric composition).

Not much else to report. Didn't get as much flying time in as I had hoped because of the exploring I did, so I'll probably try to make up for lost time later.

Did hear about some stuff going on back in The Bubble though. News about possible structures discovered on ammonia worlds, and some sort of big reveal today. With all this and speculation that the Thargoids may be returning, maybe now's a good time to be out here away from it all....

• Current location is Bleia Eohn CN-Y b34-1
• Flying time: ~40 minutes
• 2,526.30 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 2,579.02 LY from Sol
• 435.59 LY to Waypoint 3 (Aucopp LY-O b53-6)
• 19,426.99 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 29%

Other Notable Happenings

• Bleia Eohn WA-C b33-6 A turned out to be a T Tauri Variable star pretending to be a Red Dwarf....

Incidents

• Controlled flight into terrain during second landing on Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1 (planets have gravity; forgot about that....) at 20-30 m/s. Took a bite out of shields, but no hull/internal damage.
• Unnecessarily deployed chaff during second landing on Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1 (pressed wrong button, meant to recenter controls)
• Controlled flight into star (too fast approach while fuel scooping) Bleia Eohn YE-H c13-14 A. Hull down to 98%, modules took some damage. 3,608 AFMU repair materials units remaining.

Photos

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  Canyons in a mountain? Not hazardous at all!

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  Yup, perfectly safe, no unnecessary risk taking here

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  Definitely quite pretty

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  This is fine

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  Impact crater

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  View from the edge of the crater; note the reddish haze presumably caused by dust

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  Obscuration of star caused by presumed dust cloud from whatever produced this impact crater. Compare to next photo...

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  ...taken from the mountain where I first landed

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  Water world Bleia Eohn KG-O c9-0 3

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  High metal content world Bleia Eohn KG-O c9-0 5; note the polar ice cap

Day 5 (30 August 3302)

Made excellent progress today! Not really much else to report, though I did come across a couple Class A blue-white stars - don't see too many of those - and a trinary T Tauri Variable system.

Made landfall on Drojeae UZ-K b55-3 A 7 a. Seems like a nice place to end my flight for the day, and I might go materials scouting before I head off again. Beautiful view of the galactic core from here, as well as a couple nebulae - I'll have to cross-reference the galaxy map figure out which ones they are before I leave.

• Current location is Drojeae UZ-K b55-3
• Flying time: ~2.5 hours
• 4,395.89 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 4,446.42 LY from Sol
• 560.53 LY to Waypoint 5 (Blae Drye WV-T d4-101)
• 17,555.63 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 25%

Other Notable Happenings

• Aucopp WW-L c24-12 - Not one, not two, but three T Tauri Variables pretending to be nice, fuel-scoopable main sequence stars ._.
• Reached Waypoint 3 (Aucopp LY-O b53-6)!
• Reached Waypoint 4 (Drojeae LA-Y c17-14)!

Incidents

Surprisingly, I didn't do anything terribly stupid today! I suspect CMDR stwalkerster won't believe me, though.

Photos

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  That star is a spy!

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  Class A blue-white star

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  Is it just me, or are the stars becoming denser?

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  View of the sky from the dark side of Drojeae UZ-K b55-3 A 7 a. The galactic core is starting to get quite a bit brighter! Those nebulae look inviting too - might have to divert and check them out.

Day 6 (31 August 3302)

Took a look at the galaxy map, and I identified that purplish nebula I saw when I landed last night as the Omega Nebula - the more colorful one off to the right seems to be the Traikaae AA-A h2 Nebula. They're both about 1,500 LY out of my way, though, so I probably won't be diverting to them this trip. Maybe on the way back to The Bubble after I visit Jaques. (Indeed, I believe CMDR stwalkerster may be using my waypoints as a reference for his trip to Jaques, and he may not appreciate a 1.5 kLY diversion.)

Speaking of The Bubble, so I decided to take my SRV out on the planet I landed on, Drojeae UZ-K b55-3 A 7 a. You know, 4.5 thousand light years away from civilization? Well, you can imagine my surprise when my SRV's wave scanner picked up the signal of abandoned cargo. Following the signal, came across the wreckage of an SRV, with cargo containers (and remnants thereof) strewn about quite a wide area. Interestingly, there are quite a few more containers than an SRV should be able to carry - I counted at least 6 versus the SRV's capacity of 2. They consisted of fairly run-of-the mill trade goods, synthetic reagents, structural regulators, taaffeite, the like. I recalled my ship and conducted a fairly thorough search; alas, no escape pod was located, nor was any ship wreckage located. Maybe whoever it was made it back to their ship.... Did a little materials scouting, then back on the proverbial road again.

(Interestingly, when I recalled my ship this second time, it landed 143m away from me and was even facing me - this never happens!)

Stopping at Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 (Waypoint 5) for now. Will have to do some poking around this system before I leave; the ADS reported 50 newly discovered astronomical objects!

Otherwise, besides the couple notes below, uneventful flying today.

In closing, regarding the reports that a crashed alien ship was discovered in the Pleiades... I'm not sure if I'd rather be back in The Bubble so I can partake in the investigation, or if I'm glad that I'm out here away from it all. Who knows where it's safer to be at this point.

• Current location is Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 (Waypoint 5)
• Flying time: ~0.5 hours
• 4,955.94 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 5,006.46 LY from Sol
• 997.15 LY to Waypoint 6 (NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16)
• 16,995.76 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 35%

Other Notable Happenings

• Drojeae YP-E c28-19 - Star system with five stars! Two of them at the "center" of the system, which made the jump in a harrowing experience. Not as bad as V492 Lyrae though!
• Blae Drye QM-Y b6-5 - T Tauri Star, because of course there has to be at least one.
• Reached Waypoint 5 (Blae Drye WV-T d4-101)!

Incidents

• Blae Drye HN-F c1 system - Started moving off of the star before I actually finished fuel scooping it. Oops. And here I was thinking I might make it another day without doing something unusually stupid....

Photos

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  SRV wreckage on Drojeae UZ-K b55-3 A 7 a

Day 7 (2 September 3302)

Popped on to GalNet today to find that the exploration data community goal out at Jaques ended way ahead of schedule today, because it met the final targets. Kinda bummed, but also kinda saw it coming. Besides, doesn't really give me less reason to get out there, just not as big a rush now. I think I'll take more time sightseeing from here on out. Assuming the Thargoids don't decide to have a go at me or something....

So, first thing I did was find the most interesting planet in this system, and that turned out to be Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1 - a ringed (!) high-metal-content world orbiting the barycenter of a class F/K binary pair. Awfully big planet too - 2.95Gs of gravity on the surface, which of course meant that I did crash into the planet unceremoniously while looking for a landing spot. Definitely the most stressful landing so far in my career. And it's not too often your SRV gives you a "High Gravity Warning" as you're leaving the ship.... The high gravity really makes driving the SRV punishing; even relatively small mounds of dirt throw you around. Very unaccustomed to this since most of the time I'm taking the SRV out on low-grav worlds. Actually became quite fun after a while, though. Prospecting was fruitful, though I didn't find much of what I was really after, vanadium.

Before leaving, I picked up yet another abandoned cargo signal on my SRV's wavescanner, and following it I came across the crash wreckage of what appears to be a Federal F63 Condor fighter. Really not sure what one of those is doing all the way out here. A few canisters of narcotics lying around, so smugglers on a very long distance run to Jaques perhaps?

Recalled my ship, and I'll be honest, I was somewhat anxious since I landed that the autopilot wouldn't land successfully given the high gravity, but it did a great job in the end. Nice soft, smooth landing, if a little slow - but I'll take a soft landing over one that's a little too fast any day. Alas, Diamondback Explorers don't have much living space as it is and, since I'm flying without cargo racks, short of strapping the pods to the wings I'm forced into the uncomfortable position of abandoning the two occupied escape pods from the crashed Condor. At least I can move them to a better location, which is -7.3115 x -138.6299 degrees. I'll pass the coordinates along via GalNet and hopefully a SAR team can pick them up. At least they're cryopods from my understanding.

(Actually, where did the second escape pod come from? I thought the F63 was a one-seater.... Does it even have room for an escape pod for the pilot?)

One last notable mention about Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 - planet BC 8 turned out to be a Class IV gas giant - yet another thing you don't see every day. A very pretty red color. After giving that planet a scan, on to Waypoint 6, NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16, a beautiful class B blue-white star, where I landed on planet 1 A, a rocky world about 4 kLs away. Good place to call it a day, methinks.

• Current location is NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16 (Waypoint 6)
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 5,952.73 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 6,002.84 LY from Sol
• 998.22 LY to Waypoint 7 (Pyraleau RP-G b43-6)
• 15,998.70 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 42%

Other Notable Happenings

• Blae Drye MR-E c14-22 - Let's sing the T Tauri Star song!
• Blae Drye OS-A b33-0 - T Tauri 2: Fuel Scoop Boogaloo
• Blae Drye EO-F b44-2 - T Tauri 3: The Search for More Fuel

Incidents

• Controlled flight into planetary terrain on Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1 (due to high gravity; not including the rather hard landing afterwards)

Photos

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  System overview of Blae Drye WV-T d4-101. It's a doozy!

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  Ventral thrusters struggling to keep the Luminary flying in 2.95Gs of gravity above Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1

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  Dat view. Worth it.

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  Crashed smuggling F63 Condor on Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1

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  Passing the rings of Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1 on departure

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  Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 8, a Class IV gas giant - pretty colors!

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  Class B blue-white star at NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16 (Waypoint 6)

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  Landing on NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16 1 A for the night

Day 8 (3 September 3302)

Started off with some brief prospecting on NGC 6705 Sector CQ-Y e16 1 A, but really didn't find much I didn't already have quite a bit of, so set off again soon afterwards.

Discovered another water world with life today, Pyraleau WR-V c18-35 3. Not only is it the third planet from the star, but the star is a Class G like Sol... give the planet some land and you'd have an Emergency Backup Earth!

After arriving at Waypoint 7, I decided to make a little detour for fun to the nearest neutron star I could find, which turned out to be Nyeajaae SO-Y d1-14. Not a major diversion, only maybe a jump or two away from the route to Waypoint 8. Looks like it might be a binary pair, neutron star plus a K9 VA star. Hopefully my FSD won't put me on top of the neutron star....

Well, turns out it basically did. Dropped out of hyperspace about 0.22 Ls from it, well within range of it to start heating up my ship. Fortunately, I was able to spot it coming out of the jump and turned away from it.

Then there's Nyeajaae BM-T d4-55 - binary pair at the center of the trinary system, which of course my FSD very helpfully put me between at the end of the jump. Heck, as I was coming out of the jump, I passed close enough to one of the stars to engage the fuel scoop. In a moment of space madness I decided to try flying between the stars to fuel scoop - which worked but of course resulted in some heat damage (at about 110%) but no unsafe drop from supercruise. Of course, I totally forgot that I'm carrying heatsinks....

After that, on the last jump before Waypoint 8, I came across the Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29 system - quite possibly the strangest star system I've encountered so far. Four brown dwarves orbiting a Class A primary star, one of them with rings (Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29 4), and each of them with their own orbiting bodies, including a gas giant with further moons of its own. Even better, one of the gas giants around the brown dwarf with rings, Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29 4 c, is a gas giant with water-based life! I didn't even know that was possible!

Finally, jumping into Waypoint 8, I promptly flew into the main star (Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2 A) because I got distracted and didn't throttle down in time. Welp, after the heat damage in Nyeajaae BM-T d4-55, I needed to do some field repairs anyway.... AFMU is down to 2,584 repair units out of 4,000 - finding vanadium is now a bit more urgent. I guess I'll also take that as a sign that I should probably take a break from flying now. But not before I do more exploring! As it turned out, this system had yet another gas giant with water-based life, Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2 B 1!

Made pretty good progress today I think; made it through two waypoints and made some very interesting discoveries. Good enough for now!

• Current location is Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2 (Waypoint 8)
• Flying time: ~4 hours
• 7,945.35 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 7,995.15 LY from Sol
• 992.76 LY to Waypoint 9 (Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0)
• 14,005.98 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 7 (Pyraleau RP-G b43-6)!
• Reached Waypoint 8 (Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2)!
• No T Tauri Stars today! Yay!

Incidents

• Controlled flight into star Pyraleau CI-B b46-4 A - and here I was worried about a neutron star getting me
• Heat damage due to possibly maybe deliberately flying between Nyeajaae BM-T d4-55 A and Nyeajaae BM-T d4-55 B (I blame space madness)
• Controlled flight into star Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2 A - failure to throttle down in time while fuel scooping

Photos

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  Is it just me, or am I driving in circles....

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  Why hello there trinary system. At least my FSD was kind enough to jump me in away from any of these stars....

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  Water world!

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  Neutron star Nyeajaae SO-Y d1-14 A. Note the gravitational lensing around the star. To give you an idea of just how small neutron stars are, I'm only about 165,000 km away from it - Sol is 693,000 km in radius

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  Binary pair of Nyeajaae BM-T d4-55, which I may or may not have intentionally flown through due to space madness

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  Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29, which wins the craziest star system award

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  Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29 4, a Class Y brown dwarf star with massive rings!

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  Gas giant with water based life in Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29

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  Gas giant with water based life in Nyeajaae ES-R d5-29

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  Gas giant with water based life in Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2

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  Gas giant with water based life in Nyeajaae CS-N b25-2

Day 9 (5 September 3302)

After a few jumps today, I came across Nyeajaae WW-I d10-72 2 - a "metal rich world", which is a classification I had not seen before. Decided to land and go looking for vanadium and other materials needed for AFMU refills. Found an area of what seems to be past volcanism that looks a very bright orange-yellow color, so I'm naming this region the Cheddar Mountains (if I get first discovery, I get to do that right?). Landing was a little tricky, 1.77Gs at surface, but not too bad (certainly not as bad as the 2.95Gs of Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1). Strangely, one of the first things I came across was another SRV crash site. No escape pods, just some cargo canisters lying around. What are they doing all the way out here? Anyway, the planet turned out to be rich in a variety of metals, like chromium and zinc (and lots of iron, so much iron...), but none of what I needed, specifically vanadium. Starting to regret not equipping my ship with a Detailed Surface Scanner now.... 'Twas still an interesting planet to explore, though.

Made a few more jumps, but I'm feeling quite tired today, so I think I'll call it here and try to get some rest. Didn't make very good progress today, so maybe I'll fly some more later after I've gotten some sleep.

• Current location is Nyeajaae DJ-F d12-21
• Flying time: ~2 hours
• 8,570.77 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 8,620.61 LY from Sol
• 367.66 LY to Waypoint 9 (Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0)
• 13,380.60 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 65%

Other Notable Happenings

Nothing to report.

Incidents

• Autopilot controlled flight into terrain at Nyeajaae WW-I d10-72 2 during ship recall to surface - not counted in incidents log as this was under the control of autopilot, not myself.

Photos

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  Ohai thar

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  The Cheddar Mountains seen from orbit

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  See? Doesn't it just look like a mound of cheese? The HUD even blends in with it....

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  Another cheeky binary pair

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  Progress on the galaxy map

Day 10 (6 September 3302)

One thing I've noticed over the past couple days is that there are a couple nebulae which seem to be right along my route. I've identified them as the Skaudai AA-A h71 Nebula, and the Prua Phoe AA-A h69 Nebula, closest first. Of course, I won't know if my route passes through (or even near) them until I get closer to them, but it would make the trip a bit more interesting.

Came across the Nyeajaae XL-D c28-25 star system, which had two water worlds with life (A 1 and A 2). A 1 was quite big though, over 3 Earth masses, so I'm not sure it'd be a very comfortable place to live.

Detected an Unidentified Signal Source, which resolved to Degraded Emissions (Threat 0) upon scan, near Nyeajaae YW-B c29-30 A. First USS I've seen in quite a while, maybe only the second one since I left The Bubble? Dropped in, and it was a debris field from a destroyed ship, as expected. A single cargo canister containing a large survey data cache floating at the crash site, but no cargo rack to carry it with, so I just left it (also, stolen goods, illegal salvage, etc.). Found (or, more accurately, ran into) a piece of debris that seems to be the cockpit of the former vessel, which allowed me to identify it as a Viper-class, but I can't tell if it was a MkIII or a MkIV. Another explorer who didn't make it, it seems.

Made it to Waypoint 9, Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0, and landed on planet A 1 for now, a High Metal Content World with a nice 0.30Gs of surface gravity. Since it coincides with a waypoint, I figure I might do some vanadium hunting here before I leave, next time I'm able to fly.

• Current location is Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0 (Waypoint 9)
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 8,938.09 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 8,987.81 LY from Sol
• 999.78 LY to Waypoint 10 (Flyiedge IY-S b49-1)
• 13,013.22 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 9 (Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0)!

Incidents

None, surprisingly!

Photos

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  Water world 1

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  Water world 2

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  Emergency Backup Mars

Day 11 (7 September 3302)

Starting my day off with some surface prospecting on Flyiedge ZW-U b7-0 A 1. Once again, no vanadium anywhere to be found, so I didn't linger for long.

Discovered a bona-fide Earth-Like World today! Flyiedge HV-T c5-27 A 3. Not just a terrestrial water world, but an inhabitable world with oceans and landmasses! 1.8507 Earth masses, orbital period of 763.9 days, rotational period of 0.8 days - and indigenous life on the surface! Will definitely be making a note of this one in my exploration data.

Came across another water world, Flyiedge XT-K b40-6 3. At least I'll have plenty of habitable planets to choose from when the Thargoids invade....

Otherwise, nothing too eventful today, though I did make excellent progress. Alas, I am disappointed to see that the best route to Jaques does not take me through the Skaudai AA-A h71 Nebula nor will it take me through the Prua Phoe AA-A h69 Nebula, which is somewhat disappointing but not surprising. They're still fairly close, though, so I might divert to them on my way back to The Bubble from Jaques.

• Current location is Skaude SA-A b32-5 (Waypoint 11)
• Flying time: ~2.5 hours
• 10,934.22 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 10,983.74 LY from Sol
• 994.50 LY to Waypoint 12 (Prua Phoe SM-R c6-8)
• 11,017.00 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 50%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 10 (Flyiedge IY-S b49-1)!
• Reached Waypoint 11 (Skaude SA-A b32-5)!

Incidents

Surprisingly, none once again! inb4 CMDR stwalkerster accuses me of lying again

Photos

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  My first Earth-like!

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  Not our blue marble, but definitely one of them

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  Earth-like planet details

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  Water world orbiting a red dwarf star (hence why it looks orange)

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  My God, it's full of stars!

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  Brown dwarves can be quite vibrantly colored

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  Ahh, another cheeky binary pair. Always nice to see coming out of a jump....

Day 12 (8 September 3302)

Only two jumps into my flying today and I already flew into a star.... Well then....

Made an interesting discovery in the Skaude HB-F b43-6 system - the second planet is a gas giant with ammonia-based life. Another thing I didn't even know was possible. It makes sense, though - there are water worlds with life and ammonia worlds with life, so it would follow that if there are gas giants with water-based life, there would be gas giants with ammonia-based life. Quite the vibrant colors visible on the planet, too (which is what originally attracted my attention).

...And another flight into a star a few jumps later, at Skaude IZ-E d12-129. Maybe I need some coffee. Second planet in that system looked like it might have been a water world or something, but it turned out to be a High Metal Content world.

Still in the Skaude Sector, came across my first bona-fide ammonia world, Skaude QL-B d14-21 6. Big planet, 28.4234 Earth masses, but scans confirm carbon-ammonia-based life on the surface. Rumor says the Thargoids come from an ammonia world. Considering the gas giant with ammonia-based life I ran into a few jumps ago, I hope I haven't accidentally wandered into Thargoid territory. So many people say they're just a legend, but after the discovery of that crashed ship in the Pleiades, now I'm not so sure.... For what it's worth, I flew around to the dark side of the planet, and I didn't see any lights, structures, or other signs of a civilization. I do have to admit, though, there is a certain beauty to the planet. Maybe something about it being so similar to our own worlds, yet so different.

To top today off, I am now finally closer to Jaques Station than I am to home! Really no turning back now. Now, no matter what happens, the closest help is to press on rather than turn around. (Though not like I was thinking about turning around anyway!)

• Current location is Prua Phoe SM-R c6-8 (Waypoint 12)
• Flying time: ~1.5 hours
• 11,928.71 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 11,978.20 LY from Sol
• 995.69 LY to Waypoint 13 (Prua Phoe YS-C c28-31)
• 10,022.51 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 50%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 12 (Prua Phoe SM-R c6-8)!
• Half way to Jaques!

Incidents

• Controlled flight into star at Skaude ET-U b34-2 A - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity down to 96%, AFMU capacity down to 2357/4000 after repairs.
• Controlled flight into star at Skaude IZ-E d12-129 - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity down to 95%, AFMU capacity down to 2022/4000 after repairs.

Photos

• 

  Skaude HB-F b43-6 2 - gas giant with ammonia-based life

• 

  Skaude HB-F b43-6 2 planetary information

• 

  Terrestrial ammonia world Skaude QL-B d14-21 6. A yellow marble, I suppose?

• 

  Skaude QL-B d14-21 6 planetary information

• 

  Terminator and dark side of Skaude QL-B d14-21 6. No lights to be seen.

Day 13 (9 September 3302)

Encountered another Water World today, enroute to Waypoint 13 - Prua Phoe DG-M b25-5 1. I guess these are more common than I thought.

At Waypoint 13, discovered another gas giant with ammonia-based life, Prua Phoe YS-C c28-31 5. This one has some really pretty colors, and is a nice way to end today's flying.

I guess I'm really starting to get close to the Galactic Core now - I can see so many more stars than I could see back home in the Bubble, and they're so much brighter. It's really quite a sight.

On a final note, I've heard that a new, permanent planetary port, Colonia Hub, has opened up in the same system Jaques is currently in. I guess that also means we're officially calling the Eol Prou AA-A h89 Nebula the Colonia Nebula now. Something else to look forward to when I finally arrive!

• Current location is Prua Phoe YS-C c28-31 (Waypoint 13)
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 12,924.40 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 12,973.85 LY from Sol
• 998.63 LY to Waypoint 14 (Clooku LH-Z a76-1)
• 9,026.83 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 13 (Prua Phoe YS-C c28-31)!

Incidents

• Controlled flight into star Prua Phoe PH-T b21-10 - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity stable at 95%, AFMU capacity down to 1715/4000 after repairs.
• Controlled flight into star Prua Phoe DV-A b45-19 A - too fast approach while fuel scooping. Hull integrity down to 93%, AFMU capacity down to 1439/4000 after repairs.

Photos

• 

  Another water world

• 

  So many stars!

• 

  Another gas giant with ammonia-based life

• 

  Planetary information

Day 14 (11 September 3302)

Alas, didn't have as much time today to fly as I had hoped, though I made decent progress considering. At least I can report that I am now out of the Prua Phoe Sector and now into the Clooku Sector. It took a while longer than I expected, but I am now finally getting into the jump-honk-scan-fuelscoop-repeat routine, so hopefully the extra efficiency will increase - even if slightly - my speed to Jaques, which seems to average out to a thousand lightyears per hour.

The anticipation is building with every 30 Ly jump towards Jaques. I'm not sure what I'll find when I get there (well, besides the starport anyway), but I very much look forward to finding out.

• Current location is Clooku BI-B b17-12
• Flying time: ~0.5 hours
• 13,411.43 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 13,460.93 LY from Sol
• 511.63 LY to Waypoint 14 (Clooku LH-Z a76-1)
• 8,539.82 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

Nothing to report.

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Day 15 (19 September 3302)

Unfortunately, due to some unexpected mechanical issues with my ship, had to take a week off from flying. But that's all resolved now, so I'm back on the proverbial road.

Discovered another Earth-Like World today, Clooku CN-G c12-6 3. This one's notable for having lots of cyclonic storm systems visible, so perhaps not the best place to settle, but hey - an ELW nonetheless.

Made it to Waypoint 14, which ended up being an annoying, unscoopable Class T brown dwarf star. Oh well.

Made a strange discovery a few jumps past Waypoint 14 though. Clooku HO-G d11-416 4 looked like an ammonia world on the System Map. It looked like an ammonia world from afar. It looked like an ammonia world up close. But my scanners say it's a water world? I'm really not sure what to make of it. If it is water, it's some awfully murky and polluted water. Maybe I need to have my ship's sensors checked out when I get to Jaques. Damned peculiar. Really not sure what to make of it. Oh well, can't dwell on it for too long.

To close out my flight log for today, I saw on GalNet that Latugara PLC is requesting materials to construct some starports between The Bubble and Jaques. Would be interesting to see, but according to the information I saw, they only plan to build three refueling outposts? For an approximately 22 kLY trip, that's an outpost every 7.3 kLY or so, which still far outstrips the maximum jump range of any ship. I can only presume that the outposts will offer repair and other services as well. It would certainly be nice for those of us making the long trek to Jaques, so it's a welcome development, but it'll also mean more traffic going to and from Jaques, so I hope I make it to Jaques with all my exploration data before the new stations open up. I wonder what systems they'll be built in, anyway.

• Current location is Clooku QX-U b47-24
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 14,138.77 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 14,188.17 LY from Sol
• ~850 LY to Waypoint 15 (Stuelou DT-T b20-2)
• 7,812.41 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 70%

Other Notable Happenings

• Arrived at Waypoint 14 (Clooku LH-Z a76-1)!

Incidents

Nothing to report. Yay, I still remember how to fly!

Photos

• 

  Hurricane watcher's paradise

• 

  Are you sure this is a water world? (Compare to this photo of an actual ammonia world, Skaude QL-B d14-21 6)

• 

  ...I don't believe you

Day 16 (4 October 3302)

Well, it seems that in my time off flying, CMDR stwalkerster managed to pass me in his Viper MkIV with a silly low jump range. Time for me to catch up!

Came across an absurd star system with seven stars in it, Nuekuae PT-Z d612. Not entirely sure what we're compensating for here.... After that, came across Nuekuae OT-Z d457 4, which looked awfully like a water world on the System Map but turned out to just be a high metal content world. This was promptly followed by a moment of space madness in which I attempted to fuel scoop an unscoopable Class-L brown dwarf star, which actually reminded me that I've not seen one of those T Tauri Stars that look just like something fuel scoopable for quite some time now.

Subsequently made it to Waypoint 15, and since CMDR stwalkerster managed to get ahead of me, I'm going to go ahead and use his choice for Waypoint 16, Blua Eaec BR-B a6-1, since it's close enough (within 3 lightyears) to the waypoint I would have picked.

After that, I decided to land on Stuelou DF-H b27-11 1, a planet which caught my eye because it's a high metal content world, about 6 Ls from the star, and is nice and big (read: high gravity). 1.51Gs on the surface, which made for a nice challenging landing. Decided to drive around and go looking for vanadium and any other valuable materials. Did a little prospecting, but decided I'll call it a day here. I plan to do some more prospecting around before I take off again, though.

I'm just happy I still remember how to fly!

• Current location is Stuelou DF-H b27-11
• Flying time: ~2 hours
• 15,074.94 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 15,124.35 LY from Sol
• 844.56 LY to Waypoint 16 (Blua Eaec BR-B a6-1)
• 6,876.30 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 75%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 15 (Stuelou DT-T b20-2)!

Incidents

• Attempted to fuel scoop unscoopable star Nuekuae QN-H a17-0.

Photos

• 
• 

Day 17 (6 October 3302)

Since I still have some catching up to do with CMDR stwalkerster, decided against further surface exploration of Stuelou DF-H b27-11 1, and instead I immediately took off and continued on my way to Waypoint 16.

I did, however, make a quick stop in the Stuelou AF-P d6-578 system to check out what did indeed turn out to be a water world, planet 3 a. It also turned out its parent "planet" was actually a class-Y brown dwarf star, and that the water world itself had some nice rings on it. Oh, the things you can find out here in the void.

The next system in my route, Stuelou EQ-C c14-20, also turned out to be quite interesting. First I dropped by a planet that looked on the System Map like it may have been an ammonia world, A 6, but it turned out to just be a high metal content world. The other two planets I wanted to check out were orbiting another star in the system, 28,927 Ls from A 6, but hey, not as bad as a trip out to Hutton. I noticed on my way over that the sky is really starting to get quite a bit brighter; all sorts of dust clouds and stellar formations (and the galactic core, of course) making space seem a dark bluish-gray instead of the pitch black one sees back in The Bubble. Alas, the second planet on my list of possible interesting planets, BC 3, turned out to also be a high metal content world posing as an ammonia world. Last planet on my list was BC 4, which turned out to be what it seemed - what I've been terming an "ammonia water" world (i.e., the scanners say it's a water world, but the eyes say it's an ammonia world). I realized that if I had brought a Detailed Surface Scanner I probably would know for sure, but feh.

Then, a few jumps later, I came across yet another interesting system, Stuelou DL-N d7-476, again with three seemingly interesting planets as viewed on the System Map. Planet 4 turned out to be another high metal content world (wow, I'm bad at identifying candidate ammonia worlds), but planet 7 turned out to be another water world. Planet 8, the last "interesting" planet in the system, turned out to be poorly positioned on the other side of the star system, so after a quick 1.5 kLs jog, I discovered that it was indeed another water world! Today's being a good day for discoveries so far.

Finally, I came across the Stuelou CH-Q c20-28 system, which had what looked like an interesting planet about 4 kLs from the drop-in point. Once again, the planet (B 4) looked like an ammonia world, but it was just - as one might guess by now - a high metal content world. Nonetheless, it's a good place to take a rest stop, and even though I didn't make as much progress towards Jaques today as I had hoped, today has been very fruitful from an exploration standpoint.

• Current location is Stuelou CH-Q c20-28
• Flying time: ~1 hour
• 15,439.42 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 15,488.93 LY from Sol
• 480.92 LY to Waypoint 16 (Blua Eaec BR-B a6-1)
• 6,512.06 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

Nothing to report.

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

• 

  Ringed water world Stuelou AF-P d6-578 3 a (please excuse the orbit line painted on my display; I forgot to drop out of supercruise before taking the pic)

• 

  Space is starting to get brighter

• 

  Stuelou EQ-C c14-20 BC 4 - does this look like water to you?

Day 18 (8 October 3302)

Today was opened with an interesting discovery. In the Stuelou MR-Q b49-21 system, I discovered a Class IV gas giant (planet A 1) orbiting its parent star at only a distance of about 13 light-seconds. I do believe this is the first time I've seen a gas giant that close to a star. Following this, I discovered another Earth-like world, complete with indigenous life, Stuelou ZV-C d13-687 2. This one was interesting in that it had a very large ice cap. Seeing it really made me wish my ship supported atmospheric planetary landings. One day....

I also came across a rather curious Class Y brown dwarf star, Stuelou KP-B a116-0. Curious because it was rotating quite fast - fast enough to be immediately noticeable as abnormal, in fact. Alas, I lack the scanning equipment to actually measure its rotation speed.

Since I'm still lagging behind CMDR stwalkerster, I am going to once again use his selected target star system for Waypoint 17, Blua Eaec VW-Y b44-16, after verifying the trilateration and routing information of course. But then I did a stupid and accidentally switched my route plotter from "fastest" to "economical". I was wondering why my ship's computer was plotting only 4 LY jumps....

One jump before reaching Waypoint 17, I couldn't help but notice that one of the planets, Blua Eaec IY-H d10-140 1, seemed to be quite massive. High Metal Content world with 9.24 Earth masses... I couldn't resist checking it out. So, putting space madness ahead of keeping my ship in one piece, I decided to attempt a landing! On approach I noticed I nice pair of big impact craters that I decided to make my landing zone. Approach actually took quite some time owing to the sheer size of the planet. The transition to FSD glide took place about 40 km above the surface! Glide terminated at an approximate altitude of 4.23 km, and I immediately noticed a greenish haze everywhere; as with the earlier time I encountered such a haze in an impact crater on Bleia Eohn YC-V c5-22 A 1 way back on the fourth day of my journey, I believe this to be the dust cloud from the impact that formed the crater. With 2.94Gs of surface gravity, it was a hard landing, but no damage to the ship. Notably, though, it's still 0.01Gs less than Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 BC 1, which I landed on back on Day 7.

Decided to do a bit of driving around while I'm here, and I was rewarded with vanadium!! I'm rich! Well, no, but now I have materials to be comfortable with AFMU refills. The planet turned out to be a veritable chromium, vanadium, and arsenic mine - all materials I can use (though, admittedly, the arsenic is somewhat less useful). Probably the strangest (though not unwelcome) thing was how closely grouped the harvestable outcrops were. I was often finding them in pairs, with more vanadium-rich outcrops within wave-scanner range. After only 30 minutes of exploring the planet, I now have enough vanadium and other materials for 6 full AFMU refills, which I think is enough for now at least, so I recalled my ship and continued on my way (and, for once, the autopilot made a softer landing than I did!).

And, of course, one jump later, I'm at Waypoint 17, which puts me in the same system as CMDR stwalkerster currently, and also makes this a good place to take my next rest stop. I am also logging and accepting his choice for Waypoint 18, Boeph NH-V e2-1842. Actually, we had a chance to meet up there before I powered down to get some sleep, nearly 17,000 lightyears from home. Was quite nice seeing another (intact) ship after all this time (and, of course, it was a nice photo opportunity!).

Good progress all around today!

• Current location is Blua Eaec VW-Y b44-16 (Waypoint 17)
• Flying time: ~3 hours
• 16,919.19 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 16,968.58 LY from Sol
• 998.85 LY to Waypoint 18 (Boeph NH-V e2-1842)
• 5,032.14 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 16 (Blua Eaec BR-B a6-1)!
• Reached Waypoint 17 (Blua Eaec VW-Y b44-16)!

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

• 

  Stuelou MR-Q b49-21 A 1, a gas giant only 13 Ls from its parent star

• 

  Earth-like world Stuelou ZV-C d13-687 2...

• 

  ...and its polar ice cap

• 

  Class B blue-white star Blua Eaec QT-R e4-366

• 

  Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 - an all-around rather crazy system

• 

  Found shinies on Blae Drye WV-T d4-101 1!

• 

  ohai thar

• 

  Meeting CMDR stwalkerster 17,000 lightyears from home

• 

  *boop*

Day 19 (9 October 3302)

First to break the monotony today was the Blua Eaec JB-H c25-94 system. Planet 2 looked like a potential ammonia world, but knowing my track record with those I almost blew it off as another high metal content world that just looks like an ammonia world. Good thing I didn't, because it turned out to actually be an ammonia world! It had quite visible oceans and land masses, which made it quite a sight. Dark side of the planet had no visible lights, so this one doesn't seem to be the Thargoid homeworld....

The next system over, I noticed something just quite bizarre - in Blua Eaec ZO-K b52-19, one of the moons of a gas giant was noticeably oblong on the System Map, and even though it had an atmosphere (making it unlandable), I couldn't resist going to check it out. A fly-by revealed that the planet, 4 c a, is indeed egg-shaped, probably because it (really a moon of a moon) is orbiting so close to its parent, err, moon. I can't measure the distance between them, but it's certainly on the order of only thousands of kilometers. Quite an impressive sight!

Nigh but a handful of jumps later, I discovered Blua Eaec KH-F b55-38 A 1, a water world that actually looks like it might be water this time, despite looking a lot muddier on the system map. These last few days have really been full of interesting discoveries, haven't they?

Another water world, this time of the "are we sure this isn't ammonia?" variety, a few jumps later - Boelts XP-X d1-609 A 4.

One jump later, yet another water world, and back to blue water again. Boelts XP-X d1-98 3.

A few systems over, yet another (blue) water world, Boelts AW-V d2-338 B 6. This one was somewhat annoying since I had to travel 15,106 Ls from the jump arrival point.

Boelts BI-Q c6-72 A 1 - another water world! I guess I shouldn't complain since these are worth quite a bit for their exploration data, but wow, so many water worlds.

Even though I haven't made it to the next waypoint, I think I'll call it here. Sure, maybe didn't make as much progress today as I had hoped, but hey, lots of discoveries (which means more credits when I do finally make it to Jaques)! And on that note, I officially have less than 5,000 lightyears to go - the destination is in sight (figuratively)!

• Current location is Boelts RO-Z b16-33
• Flying time: ~2 hours
• 17,681.32 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 17,730.72 LY from Sol
• 237.17 LY to Waypoint 18 (Boeph NH-V e2-1842)
• 4,269.96 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 60%

Other Notable Happenings

Nothing to report.

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

• 

  Ammonia world Blua Eaec JB-H c25-94 2

• 

  Blua Eaec ZO-K b52-19 4 c a, an oblong moon of a moon

• 

  Blua Eaec KH-F b55-38 A 1, the first water world of many today

Day 20 (11 October 3302)

Today started out not terribly interesting - which is good, because less things to scan means faster progress towards Jaques. I'm still lagging behind CMDR stwalkerster, but interestingly, we seem to have independently chosen the exact same star for Waypoint 19 (Eoch Flyuae DE-N b9-26) - I did my calculations before even looking at his waypoints list.

The first scanning detour of the day was about 20 jumps in, to Boeph AG-E d12-116 5. It was another one of those murky brown water worlds, about which I can't help but wonder if that "water" is actually ammonia.

A jump or two later, at Boeph AG-E d12-239, I ran into the first cheeky binary pair I've seen a while. Fortunately, my FSD did not drop me between the two stars.

Second scanning detour of the night was at the Eoch Flyuae YD-B d1200 star system, 5 jumps from Waypoint 19. Planet A 6 is a beautiful blue marble of an Earth-like world, and A 7 was a completely fog-shrouded water world. I actually wouldn't have noticed that A 7 was a water world if I hadn't stopped at A 6. Because of the seemingly perpetual fog layer, I have decided to name the planet "London".

Subsequently, two jumps away from Waypoint 19, I took a quick detour to scan the brown water world Eoch Flyuae WR-Q b7-34 A 2. Well, it wasn't exactly brown, but it wasn't exactly blue either.

Upon reaching Waypoint 19, I was going to accept CMDR stwalkerster's choice for Waypoint 20 (Eoch Flyuae KK-L b51-48) then call it there, but I couldn't help but notice that just one jump away was a neutron star, Eoch Flyuae FQ-X d1-1070. Despite it being a slight backtrack, I also couldn't help jumping over to check it out! Alas, it doesn't seem I'm the first discoverer, but neutron stars are always a fun sight. And this is where I'll go ahead and call it a day, basking in the lovely glow of a long-dead star.

• Current location is Eoch Flyuae FQ-X d1-1070
• Flying time: ~2.5 hours
• 18,904.72 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 18,954.11 LY from Sol
• 1,013.05 LY to Waypoint 20 (Eoch Flyuae KK-L b51-48)
• 3,046.73 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 70%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 18 (Boeph NH-V e2-1842)!
• Reacyed Waypoint 19 (Eoch Flyuae DE-N b9-26)!

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

• 

  Cheeky binary pair at Boeph AG-E d12-239

• 

  Earth-like world Eoch Flyuae YD-B d1200 A 6

• 

  Perpetually fog-shrouded water world Eoch Flyuae YD-B d1200 A 7 (aka, Planet London)

• 

  One of these little stars is actually neutron star Eoch Flyuae FQ-X d1-1070 at a distance of 1.10 light-seconds. Can you find it? (Click the photo for links to full-resolution and the solution.)

Day 21 (13 October 3302)

Going to make today interesting - while reviewing my route to Waypoint 20, I noticed that there is a black hole very close to my route, Eoch Flyuae BA-A g20. Of course, probably won't be much to see, but I figured I'll go take a look anyway. It maybe adds a single additional jump to my journey to Waypoint 20?

On my way there, system Eoch Flyuae NC-U d3-505 caught my eye. Planet A 10 turned out to be an absolutely beautiful blue water world surrounded with a nice set of rings. The next planet that caught my eye was a nice 325,151 Ls journey from A 10, but it was well worth it - planet B 7 turned out to be an ammonia world! I also discovered a water world in the next system over, Eoch Flyuae AF-O c7-407 5, but alas I'm not the first person to discover it.

Upon arrival at the black hole Eoch Flyuae BA-A g20 (and it looks like I am the first discoverer!), I found that there is actually another star in the system (albeit some distance away, and a brown dwarf at that), but interestingly there were also some other planets. I decided to pick the closest one to land on and see what it's like to be on a planet orbiting a black hole. Well, one that's orbiting a gas giant that's orbiting a black hole, anyway. It was, as expected, quite dark and difficult to see things on. After a quick touch-and-go landing, I resumed my course to Waypoint 20.

A couple jumps later, I discovered another fog-shrouded water world, Eoch Flyuae UO-Q d5-753 1, which I have renamed London II. Also in this system, Eoch Flyuae UO-Q d5-753 8, a T Tauri Star pretending to be a planet (also the first T Tauri Star I've seen in quite some time). Interestingly, this was one of those T Tauris that's very obviously not a main-sequence star.

Did a couple more jumps, but I think I'll go ahead and call it here, even though I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped. Still, got to visit a black hole, and made a few discoveries to boot!

• Current location is Eoch Flyuae QF-H b26-41
• Flying time: ~1.5 hours
• 19,312.70 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 19,362.07 LY from Sol
• 604.97 LY to Waypoint 20 (Eoch Flyuae KK-L b51-48)
• 2,638.66 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 50%

Other Notable Happenings

Nothing to report.

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

• 

  Ringed blue water world Eoch Flyuae NC-U d3-505 A 10

• 

  TheEoch Flyuae NC-U d3-505 system - lots of objects!

• 

  Bright stars providing a backdrop for black hole Eoch Flyuae BA-A g20. Yes, it's in the frame - good luck finding it, though.

• 

  Eoch Flyuae UO-Q d5-753 1, aka London II

• 

  T Tauri Star Eoch Flyuae UO-Q d5-753 8

Day 22 (16 October 3302)

Jaques Or Bust! I have decided that today I will try my damnedest to make it the last 3 kLY or so into Jaques.

But first, some water worlds require scanning. They were Eoch Flyuae BT-N c21-162 3 and 4, both very beautiful blue water worlds. Actually, I ran into a lot more than just these two today, but I really couldn't be bothered to work them into my log properly, so I've just listed them under "Other Notable Happenings" below.

A few jumps later, I discovered a very unusually green gas giant, Eoch Flyuae KA-K c23-4 3, which turned out to be a gas giant with ammonia-based life.

Now that I've reached Waypoint 20, that puts me definitively ahead of CMDR stwalkerster again, which means the job of waypoint plotting is once again mine. Waypoint 21 has been selected as Dryooe Flyou GP-S b33-18.

A few jumps away from Waypoint 21 I discovered an interesting ammonia world, Dryooe Flyou TM-B c14-478 1 - it had ice caps! Initially I presumed it must be ammonia ice, but ammonia freezes at about -70 degrees Celsius? That seems a little cold for a planet within 500 Ls of its parent star, so it must be water ice.

Upon reaching Waypoint 21, I found that I'm still only just beyond route plotting range of Jaques, 1,034.59 LY. I'm going to plot a Waypoint 22 in the direction of Jaques but only about a couple jumps away for me, then begin my approach to Jaques! Waypoint 22 is set as Dryooe Flyou OC-L d8-2066.

Now that I'm only a handful of jumps away from Jaques, the Colonia Nebula (still properly known as the Eol Prou AA-A h89 Nebula on star charts) is getting awfully big and bright in my canopy, and I can also see the Dryooe Prou AA-A h131 Nebula to the left and the Dryooe Prou AA-A h55 Nebula to the right. It's quite a magnificent sight.

And I've made it! The final approach and docking was probably the most stressful docking ever in my career, except perhaps my very first docking attempt as a new pilot, and also made extra stressful because System Authority vessels started shooting across my approach path at a wanted vessel, but I have officially made it to Jaques Station! It's quite a feeling to have made it all this way, some 22,000 light years from home.

Looks like the repair bill for my ship is 5,067 credits, with a 3,027 credit restocking bill. The repair bill is probably quite a bit lower than it would've been if I didn't have the Auto Field Maintenance Unit. Ironically, I never ended up needing that vanadium I had to try so hard to find on my way here, but at least I have it for the future now.

Looks like, all told, selling my exploration data bumped my Explorer Rank up by one to Pathfinder with 51% progress to next rank, and netted me 8,236,584 CR in profits. Decided to celebrate by buying a nice, new, bright green paint job for the Luminary.

Before calling it a day, I decided to do some local exploration of the star system Jaques is in, first by checking out the new planet-side starport that was built, Colonia Hub. It's really quite pretty on that planet, since the nebula envelops everything in this wonderful purple glow.

Not sure what's next for me. Right now, I'm thinking that I might go do some exploring of the big neutron/white dwarf field "below" the Colonia Nebula, using Jaques as my base. Beyond that, I think I might as well take a trip to the center of the galaxy, Sagittarius A*, and from there I might head back to Jaques or return home to The Bubble. Either way, though I probably won't log any local expeditions here, a long expedition to Sgr A* and/or back home will definitely be logged here on my website. But until then, this is CMDR Braxton Doyle, signing off from Jaques Station.

• Current location is Eol Prou RS-T d3-94!
• Flying time (not including after initial arrival to Jaques): ~4.5 hours
• Time spent selling exploration data: 12m02.88s
• 21,951.17 LY from starting point (Aequeelg)
• 22,000.47 LY from Sol
• 0.00 LY to Jaques Station at Eol Prou RS-T d3-94

• Space madness: 40%

Other Notable Happenings

• Reached Waypoint 20 (Eoch Flyuae KK-L b51-48)!
• Discovered brown water world Eoch Flyuae US-E c26-139 A 1
• Discovered blue water world Dryio Flyuae TY-A d3244 B 6
• Reached Waypoint 21 (Dryooe Flyou GP-S b33-18)!
• Reached Waypoint 22 (Dryooe Flyou OC-L d8-2066)! (Note: Only 60 Ly away from Waypoint 21.)
• Discovered brown water world Dryooe Flyou ZP-L c22-4 A 2
• Discovered blue water world Dryooe Flyou NO-E c26-164 1
• Arrival at Jaques!

Incidents

Nothing to report.

Photos

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  Jolly Green (Gas) Giant, Eoch Flyuae KA-K c23-4 3

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  A water world. Dryio Flyuae TY-A d3244 B 6, I think.

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  Left to right: Dryooe Prou AA-A h131 Nebula, Colonia Nebula (Eol Prou AA-A h89 Nebula), and Dryooe Prou AA-A h55 Nebula.

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  Entering the Colonia Nebula

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  Last jump!

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  Final supercruise approach to Jaques Station

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  Arrival!

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  oh god halp I forgot how2dock

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  "Docking successful; engines disengaged"

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  :D

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  Why can't I hold all these first discoveries?

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  Yay! One step closer to Exploration Elite!

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  Fancy new celebratory paintjob

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  Final route taken to Jaques

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  Basking in the glow of the Colonia Nebula

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  View of the Colonia Nebula from the Colonia Hub planetary port