That's really cool actually!
The Circumnavigation of Mercury
- Thread starter Andrew Linton
- Start date
Thank you, it's good to find something else to do other than kilometre after kilometre of rock-hopping.
Oops! That's the second one gone; only five left. It happened 1km short of (0,99).
(0,99) Earth altitude: 21 degrees
Made it, with that showroom new SRV fragrance in my nostrils.
Made it, with that showroom new SRV fragrance in my nostrils.
Central peak, L3, is about 3km south of the equator.
(-0.1058, 99.502) L3 summit. That was the toughest ascent so far; struggling up a 60 degree slope. I waved to the Large Magellanic Cloud.
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Two of my circumnavigation heroes are James Cook and Joshua Slocum. Whatever you think of the imperialist nature of those times, I respect Cook as a mariner, an explorer, a surveyor, and not least a project manager. He kept his crew healthy for over two years until they reached Batavia for a refit. It was there that the crew contracted 'fevers and fluxes' and many ended up in a watery grave.
Shortly after finding Australia where it had always been, he wrote in his journal on 21Apr1770: "In the p.m. we saw the smoke of fire in several places; a certain sign that the country is inhabited."
In a sort of homage to Cook, Slocum made this wry comment on 05Aug1895 after crossing the Atlantic in his sloop The Spray: "Early the next morning, August 4, I discovered Spain. I saw fires on shore, and knew that the country was inhabited."
Now, it's my turn. "I saw fires in the distance, a sure sign that the country is inhabited."
Shortly after finding Australia where it had always been, he wrote in his journal on 21Apr1770: "In the p.m. we saw the smoke of fire in several places; a certain sign that the country is inhabited."
In a sort of homage to Cook, Slocum made this wry comment on 05Aug1895 after crossing the Atlantic in his sloop The Spray: "Early the next morning, August 4, I discovered Spain. I saw fires on shore, and knew that the country was inhabited."
Now, it's my turn. "I saw fires in the distance, a sure sign that the country is inhabited."
(0,100) Earth altitude: 22.3 degrees.
Beginning to feel I'm getting somewhere with a three-digit longitude; haven't had that since -100.
Beginning to feel I'm getting somewhere with a three-digit longitude; haven't had that since -100.
(0,101) Earth altitude: 24.5 degrees.
10 degrees travelled today covering 426km.
10 degrees travelled today covering 426km.
(0,102) Earth Altitude: 28.5
Thank you, the good will and encouragement mean a lot, and another voice is always welcome. o7
(0,103) Earth altitude: 29.3 degrees
(0,104) Earth altitude: 30.5 degrees.
I had to go 400 metres further to the East to find a slope steep enough to use the clinometer to measure the altitude of Earth. Such opportunities will become increasingly scarce, and I will miss using Earth as the guide to my direction of travel. When comes such another?
I had to go 400 metres further to the East to find a slope steep enough to use the clinometer to measure the altitude of Earth. Such opportunities will become increasingly scarce, and I will miss using Earth as the guide to my direction of travel. When comes such another?
Took a look at my synthesis data and some other stats in the journal.
I have refuelled 90 times, needing to do this every 2.3 degrees of longitude. Twice I ran the tank dry and fell back on emergency oxygen - thankfully not during a descent from 100m.
As to repair, in the 214 degrees travelled to date I have repaired the SRV 293 times, that's once every 0.73 degrees. To be fair, I am in the habit of fully repairing the vehicle before starting each degree of travel, so they weren't all strictly necessary.
On the mining side, I've collected the following amounts:
I've lost 2 SRVs, one owing to a bug and one during the last kilometre of travel to the next degree milestone - it's like they say in the actuarial department of the Pilot's Federation, these are the people who calculate the rebuy cost of our ships: the majority of SRV accidents occur in the last five kilometres of a journey.
I have refuelled 90 times, needing to do this every 2.3 degrees of longitude. Twice I ran the tank dry and fell back on emergency oxygen - thankfully not during a descent from 100m.
As to repair, in the 214 degrees travelled to date I have repaired the SRV 293 times, that's once every 0.73 degrees. To be fair, I am in the habit of fully repairing the vehicle before starting each degree of travel, so they weren't all strictly necessary.
On the mining side, I've collected the following amounts:
| Material | Amount |
| Iron | 504 |
| Nickel | 261 |
| Phosphorus | 91 |
| Sulphur | 94 |
I've lost 2 SRVs, one owing to a bug and one during the last kilometre of travel to the next degree milestone - it's like they say in the actuarial department of the Pilot's Federation, these are the people who calculate the rebuy cost of our ships: the majority of SRV accidents occur in the last five kilometres of a journey.
Thanks for the suggestion.
I looked into that early on and tried a few standard and premium repairs. I still seemed able to damage the hull pretty effectively and when I saw that Mercury doesn't provide some of the materials needed for standard and premium repair - (vanadium, palladium, zinc, tungsten, tellurium), I decided to stick with what I could easily replace i.e iron and nickel. At that time I didn't know how many repairs I would need, so I was being cautious. Towards the end of the journey, when I know I'll have enough materials, I'll splash out on the more expensive repairs.
Another argument would be: burn them all now and fall back on basic and mining iron and nickel when I have to. Just remembering the grind to accumulate them, and a tendency to hoard and conserve, makes me want to stick with the current plan.
(0,105)
I can still see Earth, though the clinometer won't reach. Reluctant to stop looking for it.
I can still see Earth, though the clinometer won't reach. Reluctant to stop looking for it.
I see what you mean. I can travel 2.33 degrees on a basic refuel. That would become about 8 degrees with 200% efficiency gain. With 145 degrees of the trip remaining, I could do that with 18 premium refuels. I have 85 premium refuels available - limited by arsenic, so it might be worth doing. Thanks.