Deep Exploration 2.1 Full Version
Gaspard Xenos
To study our ocean, scientists sometimes find they need to physically be in the water. However, crushing pressures and cold temperatures make deep-sea exploration impossible for scuba divers. Human-occupied vehicles (HOVs) work around this problem, making the impossible a reality. HOVs are submersibles that bring a small group of scientists, pilots, and electronic equipment down in the water column and onto the seafloor, allowing in-person research and observation.
The idea for HOVs originated in the 1950s when there was a push for deep-sea exploration. By the mid-1960s, the first human-occupied submergence vehicles were being commissioned and tested in shallow waters. Today, HOVs are renowned for their contribution to research breakthroughs over the past 50 years, including the discovery of hydrothermal vents, the investigation of the RMS Titanic shipwreck, and oceanographic research thousands of meters underwater. HOVs are often used along with remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to allow for maximum observation and coverage during dives.
While there have been improvements to HOVs, the build of these submersibles has stayed relatively consistent over time. HOVs contain compact pressure hulls with a window that allows a small team of researchers and pilots to see into the water. HOVs use lights, cameras, sensors, and manipulator arms to observe and collect biological and geologic samples. HOVs also have thrusters to maneuver over rugged topography and hover above the seafloor. Buoyancy packs help keep the vehicle light, which allows the HOV to easily ascend at the end of the dive.
By Dr. Randi Rotjan, Co-Chair of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area Scientific Advisory Committee - Chief Scientist of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area Conservation Trust, Research Assistant Professor, Boston University
Tukabu Teroroko, Co-Chair of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area Scientific Advisory Committee - Director, Phoenix Islands Protected Area Implementation Office
The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) is the largest and deepest UNESCO World Heritage Site on the planet, representing a no-take marine protected area (MPA) of 405,755 square kilometers. Part of the Republic of Kiribati (pronounced Kee-ree-bas), PIPA is a remote and largely uninhabited archipelago that is principally known for its size and innovative conservation strategy.
First created in 2008, it phased in conservation protections in zoned areas until January 1, 2015, when PIPA became fully no-take. In partnership with Conservation International and the New England Aquarium, PIPA created an innovative sustainable financing mechanism, with the creation of a PIPA Conservation Trust and subsequent signing of a conservation contract between the Trust and the Kiribati Government.
A critical player in the genesis of Pacific marine conservation efforts, PIPA was the first MPA to contain substantial deepwater, pelagic, and seamount habitat, in addition to shallow reefs and critical terrestrial habitat for nesting seabirds. Exploration of this area provides a unique opportunity to determine the impact of a no-take zone in the deep sea.
Although there has been exploration of the shallow benthic (seafloor) reefs and terrestrial habitats since 2000, prior deep exploration was very limited, with a small-scale benthic exploration around Nikumaroro Island conducted by The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) and an initial bottom profiling expedition from the Sea Education Association (SEA), who has been working on the basic physical, chemical, and biological oceanography in the remote area for the past three years.
Other areas of interest include the Tokelau Ridge seamounts, which extend from north of the Equator near U.S. waters and the islands of Howland and Baker, through the west edge of PIPA traversing several latitudinal degrees, and then south out of Kiribati waters. The Tokelau Ridge is located north of the Tonga-Kermadec ocean trench, and incorporates some of the many Tokelau volcanoes aligned along the ridge. Most of the large, older volcanic structures are greater than 200 meters below the surface and are therefore technically classified as seamounts. These catalogued seamounts include Fautasi, Siapo, Polo, Tai, Tanoa, Tau Tau, Gardner, and four unnamed seamounts.
Rotjan, R.D., R. Jamieson, B. Carr, L. Kaufman, S. Mangubhai, D. Obura, S. Sandin, S. Taei, T. Teroroko, G. Stone, H. Tausig, S. Thorrold, L. Madin, P. Shelley, and T. Toatu. 2014. Establishment, Management, and Maintenance of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. In: Advances in Marine Biology: Large Marine Managed Areas. M. Johnson, ed. Springer-Verlag vol. 69. Elsevier, Oxford, UK.
Space Exploration is an overhaul mod about unique experiences and challenges. After you launch a rocket you start discovering new planets, moons, asteroid belts, and other stars. You build an expansive space station as your main research facility, explore new planets and moons, outpost for special resources, and gradually progress into the darkness of deep space as you expand your interstellar empire.
There's a lot in the mod already, but it is still in heavy development and things are changing rapidly. For this reason the mod is considered to be in Experimental Status (see below). There may be occasional bugs, but they get resolved quickly.
You want to explore new worlds, and new civilizations.
You want a refined, balanced, cohesive experience from a minimal mod list.
You want some genuinely new and unique game mechanics and challenges.
You want gradual progression and new mechanics introduced over a 100+ hour game.
You like uncovering secrets and puzzles.
Mid game has you building a research space station, exploring new planets looking for strategic resources, and getting started on the 4 specialist science packs. You have 4 types of specialist science to choose from, your decision can be based solely on the techs you want, but may also be influenced by the strategic resources you have discovered so far.
Late game leads you to deep space, expanding an interstellar empire, and working on the complexities of deep space science. Finally you gain the ability to escape the stellar cluster and win the game.
Other planets and moons have different sizes, resources and climates. Tight integration with the Alien Biomes mod means each planet and moon has some visual character. Different planets have different challenges, some may be waterless, some have low solar, some may be windy (bad for robots) and some may have excessively hostile natives. There will be more environmental challenges added in the future.
Water ice, and methane ice can be found in space and make life up there a little easier. Ice is a convenient way to transport water, and methane can be converted to other hydrocarbons, giving you a 2nd route to oil products.
Arcospheres are unlike other resources. They are not mined, but gained from launching collection probes from interstellar asteroid fields. The numbers found diminishes with repeated launches from the same site so it is difficult to gather large numbers of them. The ones you do get however, are never lost. They are needed in certain recipes and are always returned, though not in their original state.
One of the big advantages to claiming a new planet is the use of a core miner. A core miner gives you access to unlimited resources, but you can only use one at full efficiency on a planet. Multiple core miners on the same planet or moon have diminishing returns. Each planet or moon has its own core fragment type that yields different resources.
Most of scientific progress in Space Exploration is split between 4 parallel specialist science packs. Each one needs specialised equipment and specific resources. These new sciences are data-driven and more difficult to set up.
You can choose how you want to progress through these sciences. A basic initial setup is not going to be resource efficient or fast, but you can develop the sciences further to unlock faster, more resource efficient recipes.
The space suit also has built-in lifesport equipment. Lifesupport is made possible by consumable lifesupport canisters, and the lifesupport equipment improves the efficiency of these canisters. It is needed in space and planets with hazardous atmospheres (such as plague worlds).
Cargo rockets can launch a huge cargo inventory from anywhere to anywhere.If you enter the cargo rocket silo before launch then you can go along for the ride. This can take you into orbit, other planets and moons, even to other solar systems.
If a rocket is sent to a landing pad you get rocket parts back and reusability can be improved with technology. Cargo rocket launches can be automated in a number of ways to help you manage your interplanetary logistic system.
A delivery cannon can fire a disposable capsule filled with a stack of basic resources to most places within the same solar system. The package must be caught safely in a delivery cannon chest, otherwise the capsule hits the ground with a lot of force and will spill any surviving contents.
The strength of the beam at the source can be increased with energy injectors. The strength of the beam at the destination is reduced by distance. It can reach interstellar targets but is less efficient.
Universe Explorer lets you sort, filter, search for and prioritise zones. You can see most of the various zone attributes like solar multiplier, radius, climates tags, threat, and resources. You can also set a force-specific priority for different zones, set your satellite to automatically scan a surface, and delete unused surfaces to reduce your file size.
Each structure can only be affected by 1 beacon. If 2 beacons affect the same structure it overloads and stops working. These changes allow for more interesting designs where you are building machines around beacons instead of beacons around machines.
In Space Exploration there are 9 tiers of modules. Each module costs 3 of the tier before it, so tier 9 modules are prohibitively expensive for mass production. This encourages more strategic use of powerful modules where they make the most difference. For example, you might use tier 6 productivity modules to process certain resources, but use tier 9 modules in your science labs. Not all modules need to be gained through manufacture, you may also be able to gain some powerful modules through exploration.
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