Charon Circumnavigation

Aww, come on. You just have to climb that mountain! :D
Don't let some minor bump become an obstacle (which needs a detour). ;)
 

Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
I have one chance at this, not having a replacement SRV, so caution rules my more adventurous instincts. It's one of the hardest things to learn from Rock climbing/mountainering. When to decline the challenge.
 
I've landed my Orca on Charon and sent you a friend request. If you fancy a bit of company or need some scouting done, just let me know!

M3JAUCk.jpg
 

Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
I've landed my Orca on Charon and sent you a friend request. If you fancy a bit of company or need some scouting done, just let me know!

Accepted.

It's dark where I am, so you must be on the other side of the moon!

I could do with a bit of scouting as I appear to be in some mountains and am parked up close to a really big and deep crater. I'd like to know if there are any more ahead!

Wierdly the ice appears Green in the low light available. Not sure I could get used to green ice!
 
Accepted.

It's dark where I am, so you must be on the other side of the moon!

I could do with a bit of scouting as I appear to be in some mountains and am parked up close to a really big and deep crater. I'd like to know if there are any more ahead!

Wierdly the ice appears Green in the low light available. Not sure I could get used to green ice!

Ay least it's not yellow. Never eat yellow ice...

Oh, and well done...
 
I could do with a bit of scouting as I appear to be in some mountains and am parked up close to a really big and deep crater. I'd like to know if there are any more ahead!

Ok, I had hoped to get in-game yesterday but RL intervened brutally.

Can you post your rough coordinates and heading please, so I can get over to your position tonight?
 
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Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
Hi,

I too have been busy and haven't had much chance to be in-game the last few days. That said, I have still done a bit of driving and moved through the really bad bit.

My latest coords are
39.46
-81,40

Heading is 16. Light is coming up so I'd expect to do a lot of driving on saturday. There is a mountain up ahead, which I will be going close to on the left side as I see it.
 
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Hi,

I too have been busy and haven't had much chance to be in-game the last few days. That said, I have still done a bit of driving and moved through the really bad bit.

My latest coords are
39.46
-81,40

Heading is 16. Light is coming up so I'd expect to do a lot of driving on saturday. There is a mountain up ahead, which I will be going close to on the left side as I see it.

Excellent, I'll head over to your location tomorrow (Friday 9th) and check out some of the upcoming terrain...
 
Right, I flew to your latest coordinates and tracked a fair stretch towards heading 16°. Check out the images in the spoilers for some details on my findings. It didn't look too bad. There are some mid-sized craters on your way but nothing you won't be able to handle. At one point there will be two mountain ranges; one to your east and one to your west. The one to your east, the smaller, will be the closest to your route. There are some nasty trenches there leading up into the mountain, so best avoid this. The one to the west was too far away and you will only run into it if you drift a lot towards the west from your 16° heading.

I drove a small stretch myself and quite enjoyed it. Charon's gravity is even lower than Ariel's, which adds to the dynamic of driving there. There are many, many craters and you need to be aware of them as some you will only see when you're practically in them. Anyway, I'm rambling. You've been driving there for quite a while now, so you know :)

To summarize: no immediate hazards, stick to your 16° heading and you'll be fine!

Happy driving, o7!!

Oh, and somehow IMGUR or the forum server messed up the sequence. Check the coordinates on the pics.

Shameless selfie... :)
fuWXzNZ.jpg


DKnMibB.jpg

FUH5OB5.jpg

hjdszYa.jpg

89To30b.jpg

iDxZHmP.jpg
 
I had JUST a couple of minutes to spare to see if I could catch up with CMDR Reighdar on Charon and sure enough there he was. First though, I had to dismiss a wanted Eagle that apparently was eager to meet the wrath of the frag guns of my Orca. Eagle destroyed, I flew over to CMDR Reighdar, landed (always a thing with the long Orca), deployed the SRV and dismissed the ship. For a short while I drove along side but had to part ways as family duties called... it was short but fun. Charon is slippery as... well, you know!

Good luck on your journey CMDR, o7!!

oNsKiuX.jpg
 
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Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
The visit from Jonas Treesong was a pleasant surprise yesterday morning.

I had a short window to drive so started up and saw that a there was a ship just over a ridge, so I targeted it to scan it in the hope of getting some data materials. It turned out to be Jonas Treesong who came and drove with me for a while. It was fun :D

With it being daylight I pressed on for as much as I could, but I could see that the light was diminishing.

This morning I started up with this as my first obstacle. Parked on the lip of a stupendous crater :D
h60ZYxY.png


The sun is very low and the shadows are long, but that makes driving in the twilight very atmospheric. Basically tthe only things that are lit are things that stick up, like this....
BICEeH8.png

I drove past the mountain, with it on my right.

Later, using the shadows I identified Sol.
h17HbJf.jpg


Currently I'm at
68.18
-53.55

So I'm practically as far north as I need to go, but still need to travel quite a way east. The light is almost gone, and night will be upon me next time I start the SRV up.
 
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Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
I've been snatching small play time windows this week as I've had a busy week at work. Through the long Charon night I've been edging my way closer to my end/starting point. I had to accept a couple of days without driving, but unfortunately they were the daylight days on charon, and yet again I am facing a night that has just begun.

Tonight I caught the last rays of the departing sun and have driven as far as I can due east. I finished at
69.82
22.47

So there remains about a couple of hours driving to complete the circumnavigation. I had hoped to be able to finish it with light, but it seems not to be.
 
Stop hogging the limelight and finish it!

[haha]

Nah, seriously - what Rustnsawdust said - in your own time! It would be tragic to fly off the edge of a crater and fall to your death in the dark after coming all this way. I was re-watching some of the video I took on the final stages of my own circumnavigation and I was waayyyy too cavalier and bloody lucky I made it frankly.

douglashorton1.jpg
 

Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
I jumped into at least 3 huge craters yesterday.

I'm probably driving too fast and that takes all my concentration to avoid rocks in the dark whilst travelling at speed. The result has been that I've hopped over a rock to find that on the other side of it is a vast crater and I'm 150+ meters in the air. Considering that I've once lost 50% hull in one landing, it's pretty nerve racking! I've taken to repairing the SRV when I get down to 60% hull now.
 

Ian Phillips

Volunteer Moderator
This mornings run was pretty simple - almost all flat ground, or slightly uneven ground so I made good progress. Todays notable event: I jumped over a small crater but it wasn't until I was halfway across that I discovered that my landing spot, just over the lip of the crater, was another crater! I landed at the top of the wall and slid down a way until I could climb back out.

5 degrees to go. Will be finishing the trip this evening!
 
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