Enigma Expedition to Colonia for Charity and for/with CMDR DoveEnigma13


Hello fellow Commanders! o7


You might have heard about CMDR DoveEnigma13 and his fight against cancer.

His name is Brandon Keith, 39, from Tucson, Arizona and he's been battling tumors for almost 3 incredibly tough years now.
After getting diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, without a skin primary, he had multiple surgeries and chemotherapies, none of which managed to kill the cancerous cells for good.
Chances are, he will not be there to celebrate his 40th birthday together with his five-year-old daughter. But despite this grim lookout, he expressed, with inspiring strength, the wish to make a trip to Colonia while he still can.

We, the whole Elite Dangerous community, will support him on that journey and make it unforgettable for everyone involved!

Humbly presenting: The Enigma Expedition

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(Logo by CMDR Qohen Leth, created in under one day on short notice! Thank you for your incredible help!)

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Starting at Jackson's Lighthouse, the only neutron star in the Bubble*, on January the 12th, 19:00 GMT, in the FleetComm private group, we will be making our way across several waypoints towards Colonia.
*as many of you have rightfully pointed out, there are other neutron stars in the bubble, but this is the only primary one.

The Expedition is open for everyone to join! Whether first-time-Jonker or seasoned Explorer, you will find like-minded and helpful Commanders to enjoy this adventure with!

The main meetups are going to happen in the private group for security and instancing reasons, but we encourage you to meet up in Open as well, to get less involved Commanders a chance to join in!

Communication and Private Groups

We are using the Fleetcomm Private Group and Discord for meetups and voice and text chats.
Visit this website to find out how to join both:
https://eliteccn.com/colonia-life/fleetcomm/

We have several voice channels set up for streamers, different instances, and both consoles as well.
On consoles, we are using the following Private Groups, send them a request to get in:

PS4: Allcrowsareblack
Xbox: BlackSkulCoyote

Charity

Brandon explicitly wants to draw attention to the dangers of unprotected exposure to too much sunlight and the resulting risk of sudden melanoma.
In coordination with CMDR Plater, they set up a Just Giving campaign for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to support research into treatment and care of childhood cancers.
Please consider sending a buck or two their way!
You can also find Brandon's whole, detailed story there: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/enigmaexpedition


Waypoints and Itinerary


The times listed here serve the sole purpose of letting people find each other and give a rough plan. Please enjoy the expedition at your own pace!

Launch: Jackson's Lighthouse
We start our journey off at the only primary neutron star in the bubble, on the 12th of January, 19:00 GMT in the FleetComm Private Group.
Secondary launch at 22:30 GMT with CMDR Plater!
Do you dare to use the opportunity and boost your first jump to 4x the usual range? Boost at your own risk and know how to do it correctly: https://inara.cz/data/gallery/22/22751x7575.jpg
About 800ly to the next Waypoint.

WP1: Helix Nebula (CSI-21-22270)
The Helix Nebula is a large planetary nebula located in the constellation Aquarius. It was the destination of one of the early research voyages organized by the First Great Expedition - making it one of the first nebulae to be surveyed by group exploration.
After the first little jaunt, we will explore the immediate surrounding of the Helix Nebula for the rest of the evening and settle down in a nice spot with a good view somewhere. I suggest you find your own spot for the group you are flying with, maybe even give it a name?
About 800ly to the next Waypoint.

WP2: Mammon 1 A (65.33°//15.546°) (IC 1287 Nebula)
EU: 13th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 13th of January, 22:00 EST

Small planetary nebula surrounding a B-class primary star. The system also contains a protostar and two ringed airless worlds. You will also find the Mammon Monitoring Facility in the rings of Mammon 2. I recommend non-Horizon Commanders to meet up there at the given times.
About 800ly to the next Waypoint.

WP3: 46 Upsilon Sagittarii
EU: 14th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 14th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Stray Bird's Nest impact crater (66°//111°) High g warning!

The blue supergiant star is a part of the constellation Sagittarius and visible with the naked eye from Earth.
The first planet of the system is marked by a massive impact crater ("Stray Bird's Nest", named after the "Straybird", CMDR Corbin Moran's Asp who touched down there first) that has left the surface in that area extremely rugged. From within the crater is a very nice view of the primary star and the rings of the planet. Beware that this is a 3.9g world, so be VERY careful with your descent!
I suggest non-Horizoners find a nice spot in the rings to meet up, organize yourselves! ;)
About 700ly to the next Waypoint.

WP4: Heaven's Lathe (HD 175876)
EU: 15th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 15th of January, 22:00 EST

The bright O-type star HD 175876 has a companion neutron-star with a surprising feature: Extremely large rings. The effective radius of the rings are 12 light seconds, and it has a mass of 5.16 x 10^17 kg - slightly greater than Thebe, a small moon of Jupiter. As the neutron star has a radius on the order of 10km, this object has an exceptionally large ring size relative to the central body. These massive metal-rich rings would provide enough material for hundreds of years for any colony.
Meetup for everyone in the rings! Get together and blow some instances! You can use the Discord text and voice channels to coordinate.
About 800ly to the next Waypoint.

WP5: Red Spider Nebula
EU: 16th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 16th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: RED SPIDER SECTOR UJ-Q B5-0 B 2 (60.5°//119.7°)

The Red Spider Nebula (also catalogued as NGC 6537) is a planetary nebula located some 4,000 light years away from Sol. The nebula has a prominent two-lobed shape, possibly due to a binary companion or magnetic fields and has an ‘S’-shaped symmetry of the lobes – the lobes opposite each other appear similar.
This is the first one of a whole series of nebulae you will be able to enjoy throughout the week.
About 1200ly to the next Waypoint.

WP6: Thor's Eye + Lagoon Nebula
EU: 17th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 17th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Tinné's Endeavour (NGC 6530 WFI 16706 A 1 A, (-12.71°//70.28°)) 0.16g

Thor's Eye is the name given to this system containing a massive O-class star and a black hole. Some cartographers consider it to have been misnamed - the Norse God who lost an eye was Odin (not Thor, unless you go by Marvel).
Thor's Eye is a common waypoint for travelers heading to the Lagoon Nebula, which is just 250 Ly toward the galactic north. Thor's Eye is situated in the middle of the open cluster NGC 6530, composed mainly of class-A and class-B stars and various stellar remnants (neutron stars and black holes). A blue-white supergiant can also be found nearby (HD 164865).
For the Horizonless: I suggest you meet up at Attenborough's Watch (Lagoon Sector FW-W d1-122) after you've dwelled in the beauty of the Eye for a while.
I highly recommend you use the rest of the time to explore the Lagoon Nebula and its many POIs nearby.
About 1500ly to the next Waypoint.

WP7: Omega Nebula
EU: 19th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 19th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Camp Baatuta (Omega Sector EL-Y d60 2 A, (18.44°//-139.30°)) 0.15g

The Omega Nebula is a blue, red and purple nebula located in the constellation Sagittarius at a distance of approx. 5,500ly from Earth. It is a low-density cloud of partially ionized gas which spans some 15 light-years in diameter and has a mass of an estimated 800 solar masses.
The Omega Nebula has been used as a waypoint for several major expeditions, including the Sagittarius-Carina Mission and the Distant Worlds Expedition.
About 1500ly to the next Waypoint.

WP8: Eagle Nebula
EU: 21st of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 21st of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Eagle's Landing (Eagle Sector IR-W d1-117 A 2 A)

One of the Colonia Connection Highway outposts, constructed in October 3302.
Small-medium sized nebula situated within the Sagittarius arm, approx. 7,000ly from Sol. The Eagle Nebula contains scores of tightly packed young F5 class stars, making it a hotbed of scientific research for short-range exploration vessels.
About 1300ly to the next Waypoint.

WP9: Eudaemon Anchorage (Rohini)
EU: 23rd of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 23rd of January, 22:00 EST

Established in Sept of 3303, this outpost is run by the Patrons of the Conflux. It features all services except for a shipyard. The system also has a planetary outpost, Eudoxus Hithe.
Big meetup for the whole fleet at the space station! Say hi to our exclusively space-dwelling friends and commiserate with them for what they will miss out on during the next two waypoints!
About 1600ly to the next Waypoint.

WP10: Dynasty Expedition Conflux Rally Point and abandoned settlements
EU: 24th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 24th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Pru Aescs HW-S b31-2 CD 1 (-7.3°//-35.92°)

This particular settlement was found by CMDR TheTick on the 13th of January, 3303
In late 3302, Alessia Verdi, a commander associated with the enigmatic CMDR Salomé, set up an exploration community goal on behalf of the Children of Raxxla. The goal was to retrieve and analyze as much survey data as possible from three specific regions. Those regions being the Formidine Rift, The Scutum-Sagittarii Conflux, and Hawking's Gap (Lin-Shu Hollow).
On analysis of the data, CoR Intel discovered the location of several navigational beacons in each region, that in turn provided the planetary location of several settlements.
These settlements turned out to be staging posts for a mysterious 'Dynasty Expedition' that had traversed the location three decades earlier and had set up bases there.
About 3000ly to the next Waypoint.

WP11: Skaudai Guardian Sites
EU: 26th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 26th of January, 22:00 EST
Basecamp: Skaudai AM-B d14-138 AB 7 A (-37.81°//10.43°)

This system contains the first Guardian ruins discovered in the Scutum-Sagittarii Conflux.
Guardian history tells of "Exiles", who were banished when religious orders took over their society. The unexpected discovery of the ruins in the Skaudai sector has led to speculation among xenohistorians as to whether these out of the way locations could be the final resting place of these exiles.
There are two more sites on the same planet.

Recommended detour, especially for non-Horizoners: Skaude AA-A h294
This incredible system (also known as 'Collection of Wonders') contains two black holes, a ringed M-class star, a ringed white dwarf, and a ringed neutron star. The M-class star is one of the largest known stellar bodies containing a ring system. A tourist beacon is set up near the M-class star.
About 3500ly to the next Waypoint.

WP12: The Crux (Nuekuae AA-A h52)
EU: 28th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 28th of January, 22:00 EST

A tight binary pair of pulsars with a third pulsar also, in a tight orbit with jets point perpendicularly to the binary pair. When viewed from a particular angle it looks like a cross, hence the name "The Crux." The main body of the system is a black hole of 30 stellar masses. Also of note in the system is a ringed Brown Dwarf.
About 1900ly to the next Waypoint.

WP13: Death Spiral (Blaa Phoe NC-D d12-230)
EU: 29th of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 29th of January, 22:00 EST

This system contains a Class V gas giant that orbits its white dwarf primary in only 15 minutes, and passes through the jet of the WD! Its orbital distance from the WD is 0.4 ls, so close that it cannot actually be reached using supercruise (the WD drops the ship out of SC about 2 ls out).
Meetup in the shadow of the gas giant, I wanna see some amazing white-dwarf-eclipses! But watch out for the jets! I don't want happy little accidents just before our next pit stop!
About 1800ly to the next Waypoint.

WP14: The Venetian Nebula
EU: 31st of January, 20:00 GMT
US: 31st of January, 22:00 EST
Meetup: Polo Harbour (Boewnst KS-S c20-959 A 2 A)

The Venetian Nebula is a very colorful nebula, reminiscent of the Lagoon Nebula with its appearance. Due to its location on the edges of the galactic core, it is densely packed with thousands of star systems making the views from within the nebulae itself some of the most spectacular explorers can experience.
About 2500ly to the next Waypoint.

WP15: Kashyapa (Vihara Gate)
EU: 2nd of February, 20:00 GMT
US: 2nd of February, 22:00 EST

A spectacular Ringed Earth-like world with exactly 1G. When this spectacle was discovered by the Chapterhouse Mission to Jaques and news broke back on Kamadhenu a local sect of sadhus interpreted this as fulfillment of a prophecy; They saw the ringed ELW as "Kashyapa" - the legendary consort of Mother Kamadhenu, a fabled paradise - and are now fixated on one day establishing a religious retreat in this system.
In October of 3303, this location was colonized by Chapterhouse Curate. The Vihara Gate starport and Martyrs' Rest outpost are available for travelers, explorers, and pilgrims.
About 2500ly to the next Waypoint.

WP16: Dove Enigma Megaship (Colonia)
EU: 4th of February, 20:30 GMT
US: 4th of February, 22:00 EST

Yep, you read that right, Frontier have stepped up, as they have done before for other commanders, and the Dove Enigma, a brand new dockable megaship in Colonia, will be waiting for our arrival and forever commemorate this brave Commander. Special thanks to Paige Harvey from Frontier Developments! o7
From here on out you can enjoy a drink at the bar, explore this beautiful area of space, settle down with one of the many factions in Colonia (shoutout to the Colonia Rock Rats! o7) or explore the rest of the galaxy.
Thank you so much for joining this epic adventure! o7


Whether we can keep to the above schedule depends on what pace Brandon can manage. He's not always in shape to fly. Should it get too bad, we will resort to Multicrewing him along or delay the expedition a little.

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If you are new to exploration, or just want to know even more about the expedition and how it came along, you can watch the BroCast from Sunday, January 7th here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ce4iFMUojg
We talked about the expedition and went over a complete setup of an exploration ship on the stream.

EDSM

Make sure to sign up to the official fleet roster on EDSM to document your progress and show your support:
https://www.edsm.net/en/expeditions/summary/id/38/name/Enigma+Expedition
Thanks to CMDR Anthor from EDSM for his impromptu help!
Console Players can now also sign up to the Expedition as a guest user, and track their progress manually!
Additionally, we now have roles on the fleet roster! Please set your intended role(s) so we know what everybody is up to!
Last but not least, the ship you embark upon this expedition in, should be displayed on the roster as well, once the journey started.
Again, thanks Anthor for the stunning support!

Media

Watch the following YouTube channels for coverage of the Expedition in form of streams and videos:

CMDR Paroxsym: https://www.youtube.com/c/ParoxsymalGaming
CMDR Plater: https://www.youtube.com/c/CMDRPLATER
CMDR Yamiks: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheYamiks
CMDR Spatula007: https://www.youtube.com/spatula007
CMDR MACH1NE:https://www.youtube.com/c/CMDRMACH1NE
CMDR Thecookierebel: https://www.youtube.com/c/thecookierebel
CMDR Maximilian Reach: https://www.youtube.com/user/maeyae/

If you are missing on this list, contact me directly!

Finally, a video CMDR MACH1NE created for the occasion:

[video=youtube_share;Ru3S9sdzKwQ]https://youtu.be/Ru3S9sdzKwQ[/video]

I hope to see you at the Bar in the Dove Enigma! Good jonking to you all and right on, commanders! o7

Cheers,
CMDR Greytest
 
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Cancer is a strange and unpredictable condition. My mother was diagnosed with a very aggressive lung & breast cancer two and a half years ago. Although she was responding well to the chemo, she fell ill with pneumonia, and ultimately it was that infection on top of the cancer which claimed her life.

And then there's my dad, who was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 1981 and given just six months to live...and he's still with us today, having managed to outlive all the consultants who dealt with his condition back then. He had an 8hr surgical procedure followed by 10 times the radiation they'd administer for a similar tumour today, and radioactive scatter from that treatment ended up causing him to develop a further lesion in his temporal lobe (which required surgery to remove), and also later a tumour of the parotid gland (which again required a complicated surgical procedure to deal with).

And as I say, after all that (and more actually) he is still with us.
There are no absolutes with cancer - each case is unique, and no one can ever say which fights will ultimately be won.

My thoughts and hopes are with CMDR DoveEnigma13, and I will certainly be joining this Expedition o7
 
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It is my pleasure to come along and I certainly look forward to it, DoveEnigma's attitude amazes me, and I aspire to be such a nice person like him in the future. I wish him all the best, my thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. I'll see you all there o7
 
This sounds like a lot of fun, but I've never participated in an expedition before. Is there a guide or something that I should check out?

Thanks for organising the expedition. Wishing all the very best to commander DoveEnigma13.
 
I will be doing this one for sure, and instead of optimising an AspX for jump range I shall take a Python or an Orca for the better multi-crew and the ability to to fuel and hull ratting.
 
Would love to sign up but I do not have an EDSM account because of reasons, blame it on a childhood trauma. Sure, that will work.

Make no mistake, official roster or not I will be there. With chaff on.
 
This sounds like a lot of fun, but I've never participated in an expedition before. Is there a guide or something that I should check out?

Thanks for organising the expedition. Wishing all the very best to commander DoveEnigma13.

I will update the post accordingly, thanks for the headsup!
Basically you wanna make your ship as light as possible and put in the best Frameshiftdrive. Engineering that for range will be benifitial too.
If you wanna earn money, bring an advanced discovery scanner and a detailed surface scanner, and don't forget a good fuelscoop!
Classic exploration ships are the Diamondback Explorer, Asp Explorer and Anaconda. o7
 
Seems the discord invite has expired. In any case please can we just use one of the existing exploration discords, we really don't need another:


I'm well aware of those Discords, they just happened to be unresponsive in the short amount of time I had to set everything up.
I will keep working on those fine details and update the post accordingly.
 
Same cancer my mom has... and donating to the same St. Jude's fund.

Small world.

I wont be able to make this as I'm off to try and set the distance from Sol record. I wasn't originally planning on take any mugs out there, but I will pick one up and scribe DoveEnigma13 on it right before I punt it out the airlock.


Fly strong,

Keef
 
This sounds like a lot of fun, but I've never participated in an expedition before. Is there a guide or something that I should check out?

Thanks for organising the expedition. Wishing all the very best to commander DoveEnigma13.

Firstly, I hope that CMDR DoveEnigma13's cancer goes into remission and that he lives to see his daughter graduate from high school, college, get married, and hold his grandkids in his lap. I am honored to join this expedition.

Unfortunately, I've seen that awful side of cancer. My mom and many of my relatives have died of cancer and my wife has a huge scar on her back from a melanoma removal. She tells everyone that she was bitten by a shark! :D

Clariko, there's nothing hard about exploration, except for the endless repetition of jumping, scooping, and scanning. You want an A-rated FSD (preferably engineered for long range jumping), a good fuel scoop, Advanced Discovery & Detailed Surface Scanners, and D-rated (lightweight) modules for most everything else. An Automated Field Maintenance Unit and an SRV bay are worth considering. If you haven't done much fuel scooping, I recommend taking a couple of Heat Sink Launchers. I usually fly in Solo or a Private Group, so I don't take any weapons while exploring.

Here's a link for more info on exploration: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/191019-The-Popular-Guide-to-Exploration

I've signed up for the expedition. I plan to take my AspX "Into the Black", the same ship I flew to Beagle Point for the Distant Worlds Expedition. In game, I'm CMDR Topaz the Grouchy. (I picked my commander name on a bad day and curmudgeon is too hard to spell!)

Here's a link for the AspX configuration that I'll probably use: https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/asp...weloBhBmSQUwIYHMA28QgIwV0A=&bn=Into the Black
 
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I'd be honored to come along on this, too.

I want to second what NW3 says. If you're just starting out, there's no need to engineer a ship or even to have a particularly well-fitted ship. The route to Colonia is well-understood, and almost anything with an A-rated FSD will make the journey handily.

For titaniumgoblin, especially, here are a couple of ships that would handle the trip just fine, and be a lot of fun to fly there: Cobra Mk III (25.44 ly, without engineering) and Dolphin (30.54 ly without engineering). Both ships are built to minimize weight but have shields, a buggy, and an AFMU. The Cobra is under 5 mil, and the Dolphin is under 6, so it should be trivial to make that amount of money. If you have more to spend, then buy a better fuel scoop, but the one that's spec'd will get you there without too much pain.
 
I'd be honored to come along on this, too.

I want to second what NW3 says. If you're just starting out, there's no need to engineer a ship or even to have a particularly well-fitted ship. The route to Colonia is well-understood, and almost anything with an A-rated FSD will make the journey handily.

For titaniumgoblin, especially, here are a couple of ships that would handle the trip just fine, and be a lot of fun to fly there: Cobra Mk III (25.44 ly, without engineering) and Dolphin (30.54 ly without engineering). Both ships are built to minimize weight but have shields, a buggy, and an AFMU. The Cobra is under 5 mil, and the Dolphin is under 6, so it should be trivial to make that amount of money. If you have more to spend, then buy a better fuel scoop, but the one that's spec'd will get you there without too much pain.

I have a well played PS4 account the PC is a new one. I have a plan and shall be there. He is one of us and I'd be honoured to make this journey.
 
I'll be there for the launch of the expedition!

Can I just take a moment to say that its awesome to see people coming together to take part in this? Faith in humanity, restored!
 
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