Community Event / Creation Buckyball Racing Club presents: The Race to the Poles - Polar Ship Fram Celebration. 14-22 July 3304

Buckyball Racing Club Presents: The Race to the Poles - Polar Ship Fram Celebration


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Final Classification

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In the late 19 century, back on Mother Earth, when humanity was pushing to discover the most obscure corners of the planet, the Polar Ship Fram was built with few but extraordinary specifications: To have the hull strength enough to survive being trapped by the ice; and keep the crew of 12 alive and comfortable for up to 5 years in extreme polar conditions.

Fram had an unusual shape, wide and shallow, that coupled with the strong construction made the ship be lifted above the ice when pressured instead of being crushed; it included many advanced technologies for the time such as a wind generator for the electricity, and a diesel cycle engine for propulsion.

The design and construction was commissioned to Colin Archer, one of the best naval architects in that time, by Fridtjof Nansen, a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

The Fram was used in three expeditions.

In the first expedition, Fridtjof Nansen's took Fram to the Arctic Ocean; the idea was to make the ship get trapped in the ice pack and drift West with the ship as close as possible to the North Pole. This drifting theory proved correct, entering the ice pack north of Siberia, and 3 year later was released close to the Svalbard archipelago. But the drift trajectory only reached 85°57'N keeping the ship away from The North pole. Nansen made a bid to reach the Pole with 3 dog sleds, leaving Fram under command of Otto Sverdrup, but was not able to make the pole due to the extreme conditions, and wisely opted to go back to the civilization. Nansen reached 86°13.6′N, 314km closer to the North Pole than previous explorers. Nansen's party and Fram returned separately but nearly at the same time to get a triumphant reception.

Fram's second expedition was under command of Otto Sverdrup, to survey the west coast of Greenland. After some modifications based on the experience of the first expedition, Fram salied to West Greenland but was blocked in Nares Strait, a pass to the west of the island, where they met Robert Peary's Greenland Expedition. To avoid an exploration competition Sverdrup spent the next 4 years charting the coast of Ellesmere Island and the islands to the west, and archipelago currently known as Sverdrup Islands. The results of the expedition were impressive in many scientific fields, collecting valuable information.

The third and most important expedition of the Fram was under command of Roald Amundsen. Initially proposed to be a second attempt of Nanasen's idea to drift to the North Pole, Amundsen secretly changed the objective to reach the South Pole when reports that two separate explorers, Peary and Cook, had already reached the North Pole. Fram sailed to Kristiansand to pick up the dogs for the expedition, but then turned South, to Antartica. Amundsen sent telegrams explaining his new plans to his headquarters and to his colleague Robert Falcon Scott who was intending to reach the South pole at the same time; this action was in general not welcome, specially in Scott's homeland. After sailing 15000km to the south, Fram reached 78°41'S, latitude in the Bay of Whales, said to be farther south than any other wooden ship ever reached. Amundsen landed building materials, equipment and supplies, and prepared his assault on the South pole; in the meantime Fram was sent to make oceanographic studies in the Southern Ocean under Captain Thorvald Nilsen.
Amundsen and his 4 companions reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911 in good shape after 8 hard weeks, helped by the careful planing, the skills that he and his crew had achieved in previous expeditions and the good weather. Scott arrived at the Pole on 17 January 1912, just to find a tent with Amundsen's country Flag (Norway) and a Fram's pennant. Scott and his companions perished on the way back when they got trapped by a fierce blizzard, only few kilometres from a supply depot.

Amundsen and his crew were received as Heroes. It took some time for Fram, but on 16 July 1914 the ship returned to her home port.

The Fram is, now housed and exhibited in the Fram Museum at Bygdøynes, Oslo.

Fram in her environment: Drifting in the Arctic
Wind generator deployed
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Amundsen and his party at the South Pole
Original photograph, found in National Library of Australia in 2009. The image was discovered by National Library of Norway curator Harald Ostgaard Lund while he was searching the NLA collection on the internet.
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...Disguised as a normal ship...
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To celebrate the voyages of Fram and the explorers who sailed in her, Buckyball Racing Club brings you a race to the north and south pole stars, or as close as can actually be reached, calling along the way at stations named after the three expedition commanders.

Race Rules:


The race will require the participants to:
  • Start in Archer Port in Katuci system, and visit in the following order...
  • ONE of the listed stations named after Fridtjof Nansen
    • HIP 58924/Nansen Base
    • Herete/Nansen Mines
    • Kayan/Nansen's Progress
  • Fly to "HR 286" system (as Polaris is a Permit System)
  • ONE of the listed stations named after Otto Sverdrup
    • Crathiganit/Sverdrup Base
    • Daga tri/Sverdrup Plant
    • Suchifuku/Sverdrup's Progress
  • ONE of the listed stations named after Roald Amundsen
    • Kausates/Amundsen Base
    • Bana/Amundsen Silo
    • Tiriku/Amundsen Vision
    • Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10/Amundsen Terminal (Going to the extreme Bonus)
  • Fly to "Polaris Australis" (aka Sigma Octantis)
  • If you apply for the Honour to the Explorers Bonus, Visit ONE of the listed stations named after Robert Falcon Scott
    • Bahpu/Scott Camp
    • RBS 1843/Scott Orbital
  • Finish the race by docking back in Archer Port in Katuci system
Optional Bonuses:
  • Going to the extreme
    Receive 100 minutes of bonus landing in Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10/Amundsen Terminal
  • Honour to the Explorers
    Receive 12 minutes of bonus if, after visiting Polaris Australis, you deliver 2 tons of Survival Equipment or Basic Medicines (Present in Archer Port market) as tribute to either of the following stations
    • Bahpu/Scott Camp
    • RBS 1843/Scott Orbital

Ship Classes:
  • Extreme Explorer (Unlimited):
    In this class any ship of your choice can be used. Engineering mods are encouraged; Neutron star boost is allowed, but not Technology Broker stuff (Guardian Power Plant, FSD Booster, Hull Reinforcement and Hybrid Power Distributor), nor FSD boost synthesis.
  • Fram DBX (Regulation)
    In this class we fly the Diamondback Explorer with this specific build, that can be constructed in Arawere/Korolyov Hub (11.7MMcr, 25Ly), or in Diaguandri/Ray Gateway (9.95MMcr with Li Yong-Rui's discount, but 140Ly away). Neutron star boost is allowed, but no FSD boost synthesis.
Useful Information

HOW TO ENTER
See How to enter on the Buckyball Racing Club homepage for details on entering the race, and the valid Screenshots.

Entries made whole within the period 3304-07-14 00:00:01 to 3304-07-22 23:59:59 server time will be accepted.

Entries can be in any play mode, but joining the regulars in open play is encouraged.

Entries must include:
  • Your CMDR name.
  • Your forum name if not the same as your CMDR name.
  • Your ship type.
  • Your ship name.
  • Two screenshots of your ship outfitting showing Core and Optional internals and your jump range and cargo capacity.
  • The normal starting screenshot, showing your ship on the pad at Archer Port, with the station clock visible - THIS IS YOUR START TIME.
  • Landing screenshots on the pad at each of the stations en-route, each showing the station clock
  • in the Poles ("HR 286" and "Polaris Australis") a Galaxy Map screenshot, each showing in-game clock
  • If you apply for the Honour Bonus, Commodities screenshot at either Scott Camp or Scott Orbital station, showing the commodities you had when you docked (ie before selling it to the station)
  • A landed screenshot on the pad at Archer Port, showing the station clock - THIS IS YOUR FINISHING TIME
This make a minimum of 9 screenshots (10 if you go for the Honour Bonus)

Screenshots
Screenshots may be taken using the in-game screenshot function (F10 key) or your choice of third-party software. If you are recording a video of your entry you can submit snapshots of individual frames showing each checkpoint.

Please upload your screenshots to a free image hosting service (Imgur.com is ideal), or to a dropbox folder. One album or folder per run please.
(...it will be greatly appreciated if the screenshots are in chronological order...) [yesnod]

Alternatively you can submit a link to a video of your race entry. Video recording guides can be found at the links below:

PC: https://support.frontier.co.uk/kb/faq.php?id=320
Xbox: https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/console/capture-game-clips-and-screenshots
PS4: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/how-to-record-gameplay-on-a-ps4/


Submit your run / evidence using the link below:

RUN SUBMISSION FORM


Questions:
Who can enter?
Anybody with Horizons, due to the fact that no suitable orbital station named after Nansen exist (They're too far to work).

Do I need to post an intent to race before competing?
No, it's optional, but it's cool if you do, so other racers can look out for you on the course.

If I go for both bonuses, and my travel time is less than 112 minutes...?
You'll be very high in the scoreboard. Negative times are unlikely, but they'll be valid if exist.

For the Honour to the Explorers bonus, can I take 1t of each (Survival Equipment and Basic Medicines) so that they have equipment and medical supplies?
Yes, it's perfectly fine.

Do you have a nice video of the relative position of the waypoints?
No, making nice videos is far from my capabilities, I barely managed to do this ...
[video=youtube_share;N1JENWTumxQ]
]Source: https://youtu.be/N1JENWTumxQ[/video]
Where can I find other Buckyballers?
This week you'll probably find them flying (faster than 100m/s, so caution is advised) to/from Archer Port in Katuci...
Or in our Discord Server...


Thanks to Cmdrs Drakhyr, Raiko and Alec Turner for the help in correcting the text and the constructive observations
 
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Intent to take part in the "Honour to the explorers" bonus challenge as Scott is a bit of a hero of mine.

Thursday, March 29.—Since the 21st we have had a continuous gale from W.S.W. and S.W. We had fuel to make two cups of tea apiece and bare food for two days on the 20th. Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.
It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.

R. SCOTT.

For God’s sake look after our people.


Still the most stoic and heart breaking last words I think I've ever read.
 
Intent to race
CMDR Edelgard von Rhein
class: Extreme Explorer
ship type: Asp Explorer
ship name: Orpheus
After todays update (including a Windows update) my problems with station instances being slow to load seems to have cleared up and I have fewer graphical glitches as well, so racing is back on the agenda :) I might race the Bootlegger Express as well to get me warmed up... . This will be the first time I've raced the Orpheus, as my usual Asp Explorer is out in Colonia, but at least she has 3.0-era engineering.
 
I'd like to see the math! :D

calculate number of jumps from
Katuci to Nansen
Nansen to HR 286
HR 286 to Sverdrup
Polaris Australis to Scott
Scott to Katuci
Add all the jumps together and multiply by 53 seconds
53 seconds was my mean jump time from the Diamond back explorer run to Sagittarius A* which was slow

calculate the number jumps from

Sverdrup to Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10
Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10 to Polaris Australis

Add them together and multiply by 60 seconds
60 seconds is a guess the mean jump time will be depend on number of neutron stars used
number of jumps acquired from spansh.co.uk

When I add both times together I get under 110 minutes which gives 20 minutes to dock at the stations
 
calculate number of jumps from
Katuci to Nansen
Nansen to HR 286
HR 286 to Sverdrup
Polaris Australis to Scott
Scott to Katuci
Add all the jumps together and multiply by 53 seconds
53 seconds was my mean jump time from the Diamond back explorer run to Sagittarius A* which was slow

calculate the number jumps from

Sverdrup to Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10
Lagoon Sector NI-S b4-10 to Polaris Australis

Add them together and multiply by 60 seconds
60 seconds is a guess the mean jump time will be depend on number of neutron stars used
number of jumps acquired from spansh.co.uk

When I add both times together I get under 110 minutes which gives 20 minutes to dock at the stations

Thanks, looks a good basis for target times. I've been on that site before but never noticed the plotter. Doh!

Not sure if I'll get to run this as I'm away a bit, but will try to get at least a run on the board.
 
Apologies for a noob query but I was having trouble this evening getting the route plotter in-game to use neutron boosts. I selected the 'use jet-cone boost' and fastest route and it replotted from fastest route by itself but it was exactly the same number of jumps and didn't look like it was diverging to pick up neutron stars on the route... . Anything I might be missing? (I'm pretty sure I hadn't excluded neutron stars from the route because I checked whether or not using unscoopables might save me any jumps and that was identical as well).
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Without neutron boosts, I don't think that with my jump range I can get to and from Amundsen Terminal quickly enough to benefit from the bonus (although I might try anyway to produce a reference time to compare with any later runs on the regular route).
 
Apologies for a noob query but I was having trouble this evening getting the route plotter in-game to use neutron boosts. I selected the 'use jet-cone boost' and fastest route and it replotted from fastest route by itself but it was exactly the same number of jumps and didn't look like it was diverging to pick up neutron stars on the route... . Anything I might be missing? (I'm pretty sure I hadn't excluded neutron stars from the route because I checked whether or not using unscoopables might save me any jumps and that was identical as well).
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Without neutron boosts, I don't think that with my jump range I can get to and from Amundsen Terminal quickly enough to benefit from the bonus (although I might try anyway to produce a reference time to compare with any later runs on the regular route).

The route plotter plots in roughly a straight line between your current position and destination if there are neutron stars along it then the plotter will use them, what it doesn't do is divert to neutron stars that are further away from the route

what you will may need to do is to place bookmarks or copy and paste the name of neutron stars that you wish to use and plot to them, spansh.co.uk can be used to create a route but is not necessarily going to be the most optimal route available
 
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