Black Box (mission) plummeting to a Planet

[AstroCreep]

Hi all, had a "new to me" Black Box mission last night, whereas most of them are simple jump in and pick up this particular one was right next to a Planet. When I jumped in I was in Orbital Flight Mode as the Black Boxes were racing towards the surface at some 850km up, now in an FDL with it's ridiculously odd Cargo Scoop (works fine in other ships but in this it's a pain!) it was harder than ever to grab the boxes....of course I failed!

So being new to another area of game play I've never touched - and just for future reference, do I need one of them Collection Limpets for this type of Mission? I think I know the answer, just need clarification as I have no space to fit one! thanks

 

[Sentenza]

Hi all, had a "new to me" Black Box mission last night, whereas most of them are simple jump in and pick up this particular one was right next to a Planet. When I jumped in I was in Orbital Flight Mode as the Black Boxes were racing towards the surface at some 850km up, now in an FDL with it's ridiculously odd Cargo Scoop (works fine in other ships but in this it's a pain!) it was harder than ever to grab the boxes....of course I failed!

So being new to another area of game play I've never touched - and just for future reference, do I need one of them Collection Limpets for this type of Mission? I think I know the answer, just need clarification as I have no space to fit one! thanks

It's a bug. Even limpet will usually not be able to catch them. You can retry and see if you can get the mission to spawn farther from the planet.

 

[_trent_]

I'd say collector limpets are a must. I use a 5D collector for the task, works like a charm.

Not only does it make the process a lot easier, but most black box missions I take come with a wing of grumpy NPCs that spawn about 20-30 seconds after I arrive. A few collectors do the grabbing of the cargo for me while I check them out and decide if I will fight them or scarper.

 

[AstroCreep]

It's a bug. Even limpet will usually not be able to catch them. You can retry and see if you can get the mission to spawn farther from the planet.

aahh I did wonder thanks, I've had a few of this mission type but this was the only one so close to the planet.

 

[the100thmonkey]

aahh I did wonder thanks, I've had a few of this mission type but this was the only one so close to the planet.

If you don't catch them all in one USS - if you're attacked mid-scoop, for example, you can hop back into supercruise and wait. Another mission signal source will spawn, and you can complete the mission.

And the FdL's scoop is indeed unique - the hatch is right at the back of the ship, behind the position of the sensor that shows you the canister in the blue display to the left of the main scanner. Basically, the inputs invert as the canister is actually behind the scanner. It take a bit of getting used to.