I posted this on Elite Reddit, and many persons agreed these would be great features. Garnered 130 comments, and 320 upvotes. https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/40j9nm/frontier_i_want_science/
I'd pay for a science expansion.
Intro: I'm relatively new to Elite. I've got appx. 25 hours in. I spent my initial time trading to earn creds with some exploration on the way. I jumped from the Sidewinder to Cobra Mk III (Dora) and continued trading to outfit Dora for exploration for the upcoming Distant Worlds trip.
I have spent the past few hours exploring. The things I am about to discuss, I have seen no one else talk about, nor have I heard about them being on any roadmap. What I am about to state is ideas and suggestions that in my opinion would add great depth to exploration. Ok, on to the point.
Exploring could be much, much better with the addition of science! It is grand that we can land on planets, and in the future, atmospheric planets. Honking systems and scanning bodies is pretty light "exploration." Traversing bodies to check for interesting surface features to further explore is more in line with “exploration.” Then landing and investigating with the SRV is even more so.
But wait, what can we do with this SRV? Drive around to explore surface features/geography, and shoot some rocks to break them up and obtain for possible synthesis.
Well sirs, why can’t we take soil/rock samples? And where are the instruments?
Why doesn’t it have a ChemCam to provide elemental compositions of rock and soil, with the ability to record up to 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Chemistry_and_Camera_complex_.28ChemCam.29
Why not an Environmental Monitoring Station to check humidity, pressure, temperatures, wind speeds, and ultraviolet radiation?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Rover_Environmental_Monitoring_Station_.28REMS.29
How about a Hand Lens Imager to take (simulated) microscopic images of rock and soil?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Mars_Hand_Lens_Imager_.28MAHLI.29
What about an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer to irradiate samples with alpha particles and map the spectra of X-rays that are re-emitted for determining the elemental composition of samples.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Alpha_Particle_X-ray_Spectrometer_.28APXS.29
How about a Chemistry and Mineralogy device to identify and quantify the abundance of minerals on the surface?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Chemistry_and_Mineralogy_.28CheMin.29
How about a Radiation Assessment Detector to characterize the broad spectrum of radiation environment?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Radiation_assessment_detector_.28RAD.29
Ok, I’ll stop with the examples. I am sure you see the point I am trying to make. SRV operations are almost stale. Essentially, you can explore geography, and find materials for synthesis—and that is cool. Now some folks might be saying, “That’s what the ships’ Detailed Surface Scanner is for.”
Quoting the wiki “the Detailed Surface Scanner will give a pilot info on the composition of a moon, planet, star, or other stellar body and also data such as orbital distance and orbit time.”
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Detailed_Surface_Scanner
Well when you check the system map after a surface scan you get some general info on composition.
I recently came across a planet in Pallaeni that had green “veins.” This being the first time I seen it, I said to myself “I must land and investigate this curious feature on the surface of this planet.” I landed and disembarked on the SRV, hoping to learn what this material is. I shot some rocks in the area, alas they did not disintegrate and therefore was no other possibility for me to learn anything about it.
We should be using the SRV to learn more in depth details. And in fact, that is how I believe we should find out whether or not a planet is terraformable, and for “earth likes” whether or not they would be inhabitable. IMO, just because it is “earth like” doesn’t mean it would be inhabitable. Of course, all the data would be of value to Universal Cartographics.
Now some might be saying, “It’s 3302, the tech is far more advanced, we don’t need all those different instruments!” Well shucky darn. I reckon one instrument to perform all those actions—Non simultaneously—would be cool!
What are your thoughts? Those not interested in exploring or science need not reply
I'd pay for a science expansion.
Intro: I'm relatively new to Elite. I've got appx. 25 hours in. I spent my initial time trading to earn creds with some exploration on the way. I jumped from the Sidewinder to Cobra Mk III (Dora) and continued trading to outfit Dora for exploration for the upcoming Distant Worlds trip.
I have spent the past few hours exploring. The things I am about to discuss, I have seen no one else talk about, nor have I heard about them being on any roadmap. What I am about to state is ideas and suggestions that in my opinion would add great depth to exploration. Ok, on to the point.
Exploring could be much, much better with the addition of science! It is grand that we can land on planets, and in the future, atmospheric planets. Honking systems and scanning bodies is pretty light "exploration." Traversing bodies to check for interesting surface features to further explore is more in line with “exploration.” Then landing and investigating with the SRV is even more so.
But wait, what can we do with this SRV? Drive around to explore surface features/geography, and shoot some rocks to break them up and obtain for possible synthesis.
Well sirs, why can’t we take soil/rock samples? And where are the instruments?
Why doesn’t it have a ChemCam to provide elemental compositions of rock and soil, with the ability to record up to 6,144 different wavelengths of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Chemistry_and_Camera_complex_.28ChemCam.29
Why not an Environmental Monitoring Station to check humidity, pressure, temperatures, wind speeds, and ultraviolet radiation?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Rover_Environmental_Monitoring_Station_.28REMS.29
How about a Hand Lens Imager to take (simulated) microscopic images of rock and soil?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Mars_Hand_Lens_Imager_.28MAHLI.29
What about an Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer to irradiate samples with alpha particles and map the spectra of X-rays that are re-emitted for determining the elemental composition of samples.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Alpha_Particle_X-ray_Spectrometer_.28APXS.29
How about a Chemistry and Mineralogy device to identify and quantify the abundance of minerals on the surface?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Chemistry_and_Mineralogy_.28CheMin.29
How about a Radiation Assessment Detector to characterize the broad spectrum of radiation environment?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover)#Radiation_assessment_detector_.28RAD.29
Ok, I’ll stop with the examples. I am sure you see the point I am trying to make. SRV operations are almost stale. Essentially, you can explore geography, and find materials for synthesis—and that is cool. Now some folks might be saying, “That’s what the ships’ Detailed Surface Scanner is for.”
Quoting the wiki “the Detailed Surface Scanner will give a pilot info on the composition of a moon, planet, star, or other stellar body and also data such as orbital distance and orbit time.”
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Detailed_Surface_Scanner
Well when you check the system map after a surface scan you get some general info on composition.
I recently came across a planet in Pallaeni that had green “veins.” This being the first time I seen it, I said to myself “I must land and investigate this curious feature on the surface of this planet.” I landed and disembarked on the SRV, hoping to learn what this material is. I shot some rocks in the area, alas they did not disintegrate and therefore was no other possibility for me to learn anything about it.
We should be using the SRV to learn more in depth details. And in fact, that is how I believe we should find out whether or not a planet is terraformable, and for “earth likes” whether or not they would be inhabitable. IMO, just because it is “earth like” doesn’t mean it would be inhabitable. Of course, all the data would be of value to Universal Cartographics.
Now some might be saying, “It’s 3302, the tech is far more advanced, we don’t need all those different instruments!” Well shucky darn. I reckon one instrument to perform all those actions—Non simultaneously—would be cool!
What are your thoughts? Those not interested in exploring or science need not reply
