Hello. Thought I'd take the time to document some things in my most recent expedition. Previously in March I had initiated my first significant trip as an explorer by being the first to map an object of interest in the Lychoitl sector block, an expedition that took approximately a month to perform not due to work (although I had that too), but due to the fact that I had fairly low specs for such a journey (if I recall it was in my Asp but it had full armaments a D-class drive back then and smaller scoop back then; 25LY jump if that). Even though others were thousands of LY closer I managed to tag it and also put my name to one of each kind of star out there. I came back while the Tsu event was ongoing and thus made an absolute killing on the expedition. Just a bit later I was part of the group that helped map the boundaries of the Regor sector block just outside Imperial Space.
I had recently taken a break after all this to attend to other concerns but I came back recently. Having a fair amount of funding available I tried a few tasks before I finally refitted my Asp (with new paint job and all) as a full 37LY boat. I looked for a reasonable target for my next expedition, something that was reachable but taxing to the configuration.
I found it in something that was becoming big just before I went on break: the Formidine Rift.
Needless to say a few months ago it caused quite a stir and is still an alluring region. It is possible to pass around it using the bridge but the sparse population inside it makes it...difficult and confusing to navigate. However. I wanted to see if it was possible to cross the rift proper. Ideally still following along the stated flight line projected from the Old Systems.
After a brief shakedown cruise to the nebula near Sothis...PowerPlay ended and CQC began. So there was the little issue with exploration that we had to deal with. So I went trading and mining for a bit. And then everything was fixed. Once that happened, late on 12-Oct-3301, I launched from an isolated outpost along the projected Old Systems Line.
With my new drive, I was able to do 2000ly (roughly) a day on weekdays, more on weekends with a push. Every 10 hops or so, I'd log another system into EDDiscovery. Anyone utilizing this handy tool should have noted the recently generated line that rather neatly flows along that projected path.
In just under a week and over 400 jumps, I hit the dreaded Phoi Aescs sector block; the coreward section of the rift. There was some evidence of exploration along the edge of it, some of it by suspected Dark Wheel members (or at least fans thereof).
I was going to go a little deeper. And I did.
It took a whole day of but was I determined to go as deep as I could while remaining as close to on-target as I could. Progress was slow however. Phoi Aescs quickly becomes a nightmare to navigate even with a 37LY capability. There was more than one point where I had to do a maximum range jump just to continue deeper.
I managed to get pretty deep considering it's a strong heliopause zone. I think I got about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the rift using the direct path. But, I eventually came to a point where even I couldn't continue on. But, I mapped the co-ordinates of literally every system in Phoi Aescs that I jumped into. Originally I was planning on using this to demonstrate the path across the rift bearing directly, or at least have some sort of navigational reference to future explorers. However, I had to use this information myself to escape the rift.
As previously stated, it's very difficult to determine where to go in here. A lot of trial and error. And while one is so focused on trying to go forward, the way back is quickly forgotten. If I hadn't done such aggressive mapping using EDDiscovery up until this point, it would have been a full day at least before I'd be out of that mess. If I could even get it properly done, this area of space is filled with traps. Fortunately with the data I had inputted into the system earlier I was able to calculate a flight path out relatively quickly. It was a 1000LY trip back to Hypiae Aim sector block, just to go 400-600ly deep into the rift!
I'm not sure if anyone has managed to fully get across the way I tried...but I will say this, now that I've been in it up close and deep. I think it's possible with current technology. Maybe not in an Asp...but, I think if you had a stripped Anaconda (and I mean STRIPPED; smaller fuel tank, no heat sinks!)...I'd say that it would just be about possible to cross to the other arm directly through the rift. 40-41LY minimum. If a ship comes along with 45-50LY jump, then the trip might even be somewhat comfortable. I think it's just barely impossible with an Asp though, at least with the route I tried to take through the heart of it.
In any event, I made it back out after a hairy dive into it. It took another few days to get back to the sphere. I made a few detours for some black holes along the way. I hadn't noticed before with the music on, but black holes make some rather disturbing sounds up close with a direct view of them. In any event, I also found a Herbig star out there, which I later discovered was the one type of star I missed in my first deep dive months ago.
I was a little nervous on the way back. When I left it was fairly safe along that flight line, or at least it was relatively. But since then there's been the Sothis smuggling rush and while that's died down I have not doubt that there's still trouble around that area of space. Fortunately I was a bit out of line for that kind of trouble and managed to make to back safely.
I did make a good profit on it as well; 21,412,001 credits. Using some math I managed to optimize my ability to find habitable planets so I got nearly as many hits on terraforms and Earths on this jaunt as I did in my first (much longer and less prepared) deep dive, although I used a different method than the Flash/Java calculation tool that is provided elsewhere in this forum.
So my Asp is a bit beat up, but I feel like I did some good work. Mapped the dark part of the rift a bit, and made some decent coin out of it. Got my name on a few nice spots too. All in a days work.
I might post some points of interest later on, but it's getting late and I need to sleep in the King's suite where I'm at tonight after all that. I'll post those later, probably.
I had recently taken a break after all this to attend to other concerns but I came back recently. Having a fair amount of funding available I tried a few tasks before I finally refitted my Asp (with new paint job and all) as a full 37LY boat. I looked for a reasonable target for my next expedition, something that was reachable but taxing to the configuration.
I found it in something that was becoming big just before I went on break: the Formidine Rift.
Needless to say a few months ago it caused quite a stir and is still an alluring region. It is possible to pass around it using the bridge but the sparse population inside it makes it...difficult and confusing to navigate. However. I wanted to see if it was possible to cross the rift proper. Ideally still following along the stated flight line projected from the Old Systems.
After a brief shakedown cruise to the nebula near Sothis...PowerPlay ended and CQC began. So there was the little issue with exploration that we had to deal with. So I went trading and mining for a bit. And then everything was fixed. Once that happened, late on 12-Oct-3301, I launched from an isolated outpost along the projected Old Systems Line.
With my new drive, I was able to do 2000ly (roughly) a day on weekdays, more on weekends with a push. Every 10 hops or so, I'd log another system into EDDiscovery. Anyone utilizing this handy tool should have noted the recently generated line that rather neatly flows along that projected path.
In just under a week and over 400 jumps, I hit the dreaded Phoi Aescs sector block; the coreward section of the rift. There was some evidence of exploration along the edge of it, some of it by suspected Dark Wheel members (or at least fans thereof).
I was going to go a little deeper. And I did.
It took a whole day of but was I determined to go as deep as I could while remaining as close to on-target as I could. Progress was slow however. Phoi Aescs quickly becomes a nightmare to navigate even with a 37LY capability. There was more than one point where I had to do a maximum range jump just to continue deeper.
I managed to get pretty deep considering it's a strong heliopause zone. I think I got about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way through the rift using the direct path. But, I eventually came to a point where even I couldn't continue on. But, I mapped the co-ordinates of literally every system in Phoi Aescs that I jumped into. Originally I was planning on using this to demonstrate the path across the rift bearing directly, or at least have some sort of navigational reference to future explorers. However, I had to use this information myself to escape the rift.
As previously stated, it's very difficult to determine where to go in here. A lot of trial and error. And while one is so focused on trying to go forward, the way back is quickly forgotten. If I hadn't done such aggressive mapping using EDDiscovery up until this point, it would have been a full day at least before I'd be out of that mess. If I could even get it properly done, this area of space is filled with traps. Fortunately with the data I had inputted into the system earlier I was able to calculate a flight path out relatively quickly. It was a 1000LY trip back to Hypiae Aim sector block, just to go 400-600ly deep into the rift!
I'm not sure if anyone has managed to fully get across the way I tried...but I will say this, now that I've been in it up close and deep. I think it's possible with current technology. Maybe not in an Asp...but, I think if you had a stripped Anaconda (and I mean STRIPPED; smaller fuel tank, no heat sinks!)...I'd say that it would just be about possible to cross to the other arm directly through the rift. 40-41LY minimum. If a ship comes along with 45-50LY jump, then the trip might even be somewhat comfortable. I think it's just barely impossible with an Asp though, at least with the route I tried to take through the heart of it.
In any event, I made it back out after a hairy dive into it. It took another few days to get back to the sphere. I made a few detours for some black holes along the way. I hadn't noticed before with the music on, but black holes make some rather disturbing sounds up close with a direct view of them. In any event, I also found a Herbig star out there, which I later discovered was the one type of star I missed in my first deep dive months ago.
I was a little nervous on the way back. When I left it was fairly safe along that flight line, or at least it was relatively. But since then there's been the Sothis smuggling rush and while that's died down I have not doubt that there's still trouble around that area of space. Fortunately I was a bit out of line for that kind of trouble and managed to make to back safely.
I did make a good profit on it as well; 21,412,001 credits. Using some math I managed to optimize my ability to find habitable planets so I got nearly as many hits on terraforms and Earths on this jaunt as I did in my first (much longer and less prepared) deep dive, although I used a different method than the Flash/Java calculation tool that is provided elsewhere in this forum.
So my Asp is a bit beat up, but I feel like I did some good work. Mapped the dark part of the rift a bit, and made some decent coin out of it. Got my name on a few nice spots too. All in a days work.
I might post some points of interest later on, but it's getting late and I need to sleep in the King's suite where I'm at tonight after all that. I'll post those later, probably.
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