New record for high gravity landable planet!

SpaceTrash67

SpaceTrash67
varonica said:
1 ship destroyed?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbU0KkWsq8
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I am not sure if I was the first - or 2nd ship destroyed… But it was no accident…😄

I made an uneventful and damage free descent and landing (in Horizons) on my first attempt in my workhorse rescue-Conda (Fuel Rat / Hull Seal)…Scooted around Geo-site 2 (as it was sunlit - wanted to see if there were any thermal warnings- sadly no 😢) in my SRV and topped up several raw mats…which just dropped and STUCK to the ground where they fell 😄…

Note: I use the “side-slip” / falling leaf method to descend - and keep my nose directly on the horizon line (using mouse widget indicator)….

The departure was more challenging- as the recommended method from Distant Worlds 2 Discord bot “DWEBot” (using the !highgtakeoff or !highgland commands) is to find a jump system near the horizon - and UP thrust only to a high altitude- then start applying forward thrust (while still holding UP thrust) and then finally charging FSD and making a highwake jump…I found only one system - period - that I could high wake to(?) in my 70+ Ly Conda…Fortunately it was ideally placed near the horizon…

The challenge as explained earlier is that the rear / main thrusters are NOT as powerful as the ventral / lift ones - so to reach / maintain an accelerated velocity vector towards the azimuth/ escape indicator for a SC jump is extremely difficult and / or dangerous)….As it was I overheated slightly my first attempt trying to get my combined forward and vertical velocity vector moving quickly enough towards the jump system near the horizon - and had to break off the FSD charge - cool off - and succeeded 2nd time…

So where’s the ship destroyed part come in?

Having caught a ride out on AI Grogs’ FC (kudos for initially posting the discovery on Fleetcomm Discord!!) - I brought along a hastily purchased - and 100% stock (default / E-rated everything) Cobra III…for “gravity experiments” 😈

Sadly - after exiting orbital cruise and coming to a complete stop/ hover at 200 km altitude- I switched off FA - and promptly began the expected free-fall…However my disappointment stemmed from the fact that you only reach a maximum “gravitational terminal velocity” of 501 m/s…

I also tried disabling thrusters entirely (right panel) - as well as pointing nose straight down and boosting….501 m/s was the limit…. 🤬

So after an excruciatingly long “fall” - I again switched FA OFF in a flat, level attitude- put 4-pips to SYS and watched in external view as I expected I would be quickly zipping back Bubble-wards via the rebuy screen in spectacular fashion……….

…..except I survived?!? (Shields offline / 22% Hull)

The 501 m/s descent rate limit finally answers why I did not face the rebuy screen when an inadvertently non-zeroed rotary pot on my HOTAS gave DOWN thrust signals when I was repositioning on Lithobreaker:

Lithobreaker miracle
(PS - also have videos in my channel showing the “falling leaf” descent and “flat / horizon high-wake” departure at Lithobreaker)

So FINALLY- after several more intentional slams from 50 or so meters - I got my desired “Sidey Express” trip Bubble-wards… 😎

And that’s the “1 ship destroyed” for today…

Great find nonetheless!! Congrats!!
 
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SpaceTrash67

SpaceTrash67
I never risk the Auto-Pilot landing on high gravity planets: just keep an eye on my distance from ship and keep it < 2 km (with auto-dismiss distance at 2.5 km)…

Contrary to Grogs’ Cutter “landing” in rough terrain (which I am going to assume is Odyssey) - every high g I’ve landed on in Horizons (The Mighty, Newtons Necropolis, Lithobreaker- and the 11.6 g recently discovered east of Sgr A*) is nearly flat - and while still not trusting the auto-pilot after seeing one too many ADC mailslot debacles - imagine that a recalled ship ought to be Ok on the level terrain….

But terrain in Odyssey is wildly different in the exact same spot if you relog from Horizons when landed…an Odyssey ship-recall could be a bit sketchier if the terrain is really rough (especially for a “chonk-a-Conda”)
 

Orvidius

Orvidius
The human body can handle very high-G accelerations if they're brief enough (Stapp's experiments for instance), but also ejection seats and launch escape systems can have significant acceleration. Rocket launch escape systems will pull about 15G for several seconds. Fighter jets tend not to turn harder than about 9, because that's about as high as you can go and remain functionally/skillfully conscious, with training, conditioning, and a G-suit.

Of course we can also talk about the difference between dynamic and static loads, on material strength as well. Most materials can handle significantly higher forces when it's momentary, as compared to a static (continuous) stress.

I think if you could get the ship to land on autopilot at this planet, the pilot would probably be dead long before the ship got down. It wouldn't take long for the blood to drain out of your head, lose consciousness, and never recover.
 

Northpin

Northpin
varonica said:
Ok you aren't going to believe this, but 45g with a surface temp of 2,600 to 5,200k. Yes that's right 45g with up to 5,000k surface temp.

I will post location as soon as I sell the data but here's a preview!

lGZJ2If.png
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congrats, really nice finding
 

space voyager

space voyager
Insane find!

I'm actually sad that it is possible to safely land on such a planet, it should be a sure death. But we all know the magic power of thrusters in Elite, coping with any G force, meaning that landing on this planet is just the same as on 9G.
 

marx

marx
Orvidius said:
I think if you could get the ship to land on autopilot at this planet, the pilot would probably be dead long before the ship got down. It wouldn't take long for the blood to drain out of your head, lose consciousness, and never recover.
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Yep. If I'm reading things right, with cerebral hypoxia, you are looking at loss of consciousness in one minute, permanent brain damage in five minutes, death in ten minutes. What I'd be curious about if some other organ failure would kill a pilot that's subjected to constant 45 g before that happens. But it's not like there's much data to draw on on the adverse effects of constant high gravity, and certainly not at this scale.

Although the curious thing is that with Elite's FSD drives, the pilot would be subjected to that gravity instantly when they drop out of orbital cruise, and not gradually as they would approach the planet in real space. Not that that would matter much in terms of pilot survival. The only difference being that a pilot who forgot to read the gravity readout would die near-instantly, whereas one who approached the planet the "regular" way would have advance warning that the planet's gravity is much stronger than usual, and plenty of time to turn the ship and jump out of the system.

So... how long until someone places a beacon on the surface to lure passers-by to their doom? :D (A pity that Frontier no longer seems to be adding tourist beacons, this body should definitely be a candidate.)
 

wielkimagik

wielkimagik
varonica said:
I suspect he's asking, if you land and get in your SRV and dismiss the ship, will the autopilot manage a safe landing when you recall it!
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Surprisingly it did, but it was going very slow on the way up and extemely slow on the way down. It took almost 7 minutes from recall command to touchdown... got a recording and slow internet, I can post it when it uploads to youtube. Definitely not today.

If you're curious about the ship - it was a Beluga.

Update: that was in Horizons. In Odyssey the ship upon recalling slooooooooowly descended, deployed landing gear and bonked the surface. Shield down, hull down to 82%.

Another update: repeated the test in both Odyssey and Horizons with the same result as before. Horizons autopilot seems safe, Odyssey autopilot lands hard.
 
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varonica

varonica
Proph V said:
that was the first of many very high speed impacts!
this time we went faster, and "technically" survived

Great find! suspect there's some weirdness going on with this planet; seriously doubt it's actually 45G, but certainly the biggest in the known galaxy so far.

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Somebody smarter than me should be able to work out if it is right. We know the radius, we know the mass, it should be a simple calculation! Hey science guys, time to step up!
 

[VR] Merkir

[VR] Merkir
varonica said:
Somebody smarter than me should be able to work out if it is right. We know the radius, we know the mass, it should be a simple calculation! Hey science guys, time to step up!
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The gravity is correct using the given mass and radius. The main question should probably be whether such a planet could actually exist. That's beyond my area of expertise. Over to the astrophysicists for that one.
 

varonica

varonica
space voyager said:
Insane find!

I'm actually sad that it is possible to safely land on such a planet, it should be a sure death. But we all know the magic power of thrusters in Elite, coping with any G force, meaning that landing on this planet is just the same as on 9G.
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It's always been my contention that landing on very high G worlds, probably 6 and above, should require specially equipped ships, special thrusters, equipment to keep the pilot alive and conscious during landing and while on the surface, remote controlled vehicles for exploration outside the ship, no walking or SRV, maybe it wouldn't even be capable of SC. It would add extra meaning and purpose to Fleet Carriers. At the moment we carry specialised ships for long range jumping, ships equipped for mining and combat, having planets where you need a specialised ship just to land would be good.

The same would apply of course to water worlds, gas giants of they ever become accessible. It would add a great deal of meaning to Fleet Carriers and expeditions, explorers carrying specialised fleets of ships.

Oh well, we can dream I suppose!
 

Russet Meles

Russet Meles
Congratulations Varonica! That is a truly amazing place to visit for all commanders. Unbelievable discovery!

To all commanders, am I the only pilot who thinks the gravity mechanics got broken? I did my 45G landing yesterday and in comparison with what I remember on 11G planet before the Odyssey, my ship does not experience gravity that much as that was before. Yes, it falls fast with FA OFF, but at the same time angles to 45 degree doesn't feel like it was of high-G planets before the major update in May.

I have a recording, and I would say the landing was as simple as on 1G planet. I have a suspicion the changes in the engine for the foot mechanics affected ship mechanics also. I didn't notice a big difference in Horizon either.

Source: https://youtu.be/RJdNCC-cgSA
 

space voyager

space voyager
varonica said:
It's always been my contention that landing on very high G worlds, probably 6 and above, should require specially equipped ships, special thrusters, equipment to keep the pilot alive and conscious during landing and while on the surface, remote controlled vehicles for exploration outside the ship, no walking or SRV, maybe it wouldn't even be capable of SC. It would add extra meaning and purpose to Fleet Carriers. At the moment we carry specialised ships for long range jumping, ships equipped for mining and combat, having planets where you need a specialised ship just to land would be good.

The same would apply of course to water worlds, gas giants of they ever become accessible. It would add a great deal of meaning to Fleet Carriers and expeditions, explorers carrying specialised fleets of ships.

Oh well, we can dream I suppose!
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And we are not alone in this. Roughly a year ago I posted a thread on this and while it did attact some attention, there was no change. Elite: Dangerous remained Elite: Benign. At least as far as this aspect goes.

Ah crap, whom am I telling - you were there, too! :D
 

Shir

Shir
Great discovery! By good luck I'm at Outer Orion Spur, so pretty close by exploring standards. I'll be paying the place a visit!
 

Orvidius

Orvidius
My suspicion is that there's a cap to the gravitational acceleration on the ship. They probably set it high enough that most of the places you'd want to land will feel the right amount of gravity. However an extreme case like this would probably significantly exceed the cap, were it to be removed.
 

wielkimagik

wielkimagik
Orvidius said:
My suspicion is that there's a cap to the gravitational acceleration on the ship. They probably set it high enough that most of the places you'd want to land will feel the right amount of gravity. However an extreme case like this would probably significantly exceed the cap, were it to be removed.
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There must be. I wanted to see how much speed I can get before crashing, going straight down full throttle and boosting, both FA on and off, caps just over 500 m/s.

I was very disappointed.
 
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