Taking a risk

Fox White · Feb 5, 2016

With the horizons sale I can now actually justify buying it for myself but I need some solid advice!
Problem is I'm 27k LY's out in a DBX with 3 D shields but military hull (dumb move I forgot about it) and have never landed before so I am unsure of just how much danger is involved attempting this for the first time. On the positive sides though my trip has been for mapping planatary nebula and would make for some amazing screenshots. I have over 20 systems right now and dont think I'll be venturing this far out again for a while.

All that being said from an Explorers point of view is it worth it to risk that data and land for a photo op or resist the urge?

HVG · Feb 5, 2016

Fox White said:
With the horizons sale I can now actually justify buying it for myself but I need some solid advice!
Problem is I'm 27k LY's out in a DBX with 3 D shields but military hull (dumb move I forgot about it) and have never landed before so I am unsure of just how much danger is involved attempting this for the first time. On the positive sides though my trip has been for mapping planatary nebula and would make for some amazing screenshots. I have over 20 systems right now and dont think I'll be venturing this far out again for a while.

All that being said from an Explorers point of view is it worth it to risk that data and land for a photo op or resist the urge?

Just find a planet with low gravity and take it nice and slow. Watch a video on how to land if you're really unsure.

Scoopy Doopy · Feb 5, 2016

Fox White said:
With the horizons sale I can now actually justify buying it for myself but I need some solid advice!
Problem is I'm 27k LY's out in a DBX with 3 D shields but military hull (dumb move I forgot about it) and have never landed before so I am unsure of just how much danger is involved attempting this for the first time. On the positive sides though my trip has been for mapping planatary nebula and would make for some amazing screenshots. I have over 20 systems right now and dont think I'll be venturing this far out again for a while.

All that being said from an Explorers point of view is it worth it to risk that data and land for a photo op or resist the urge?

I bought Horizons while about 16000LY out. I found a tiny little moon to land on first with practically no gravity

It's no sweat on the little moons, just super cruise in, glide a bit (I have no idea why) and then stop and gently use thrusters to descend. Oh, and don't forget the landing gear. Although I couldn't get a SRV out there, I still have some lovely shots from the surface of moons and small planets. I didn't risk anything over 1G until I got back to the bubble.

Alex Brentnall · Feb 5, 2016

Note: I'm not 100% sure but iirc you have to return to a station to get the planetary landing module after buying horizons.

I am 100% sure you need a hangar and a buggy to do SRV driving.

Also I would not land anywhere without shields, even a low G world in full control if you arn't angled right for landing you can still take damage (more of a problem in bigger ships). On my current trip I turned shields off for better heat management in case of a surprise binary star and forgot the next time I was landing... Boom, 10% hull gone in one impact and red faces all around

Rikk · Feb 5, 2016

If you are anywhere near a distant worlds waypoint hook up with us.

I know I would be more than happy to hit comms and 'talk you in'

But, on a world with <0.1g (so most moons, but check them before you hit orbit) then it is not massively different to landing on a station. Take it slow and steadyl.

Satsuma · Feb 5, 2016

There are really two major ways people seem to take damage landing: Cruising in from orbit too fast/steep, and the final touchdown. The former can be avoided by taking it slow in your orbital descent. The latter can be avoided by binding your vertical thruster axis to an analog control. If you're using something like a Saitek X52, you've got a couple of nice knobs on the throttle which are perfect for it. You could also use something like a Griffin PowerMate USB . Using an analog control - especially one with a detent at the middle point - lets you very accurately set your descent rate, even on high gravity planets. My current landing technique is to basically find the spot I want to land at while I'm about 6 km up, then descend straight down at about 100 m/s. I'll slow my descent rate when I'm 1 km up, ending up with a 1 m/s descent rate at about 20m. The ship basically lands itself.

Fox White · Feb 6, 2016

Thanks for the replies everyone! I feel confident enough to try however the random system crashes I thought were gone are back now :-( Im way to scared to risk loosing everything Ive documented so far.

Hooplah · Feb 6, 2016

Here's the FD training video for planetary landing:

Horizons Training Part 1

Scal · Feb 6, 2016

Personally I'd wait. The low g landings can easily give you a false sense of security, and as the gravity increases some surprising mechanics take hold (such as roll being incredibly dangerous, and flight assist trying to kill you). It's not too tricky once you get the hang of it, but you only get one chance.