Asteroid Detection and Mining

*[Updated for 1.4.0]*

Asteroid detection and mining was introduced in the Beta 1 r0.26.2 - Apollo Update and included the new Deep Space Asteroid Tracker element.

## Detection

### DSAT

The Deep Space Asteroid Tracker is a large element that can be placed on all core types and can be viewed using the interact key F.

## Attributes

### Asteroid Frequency and Distribution

Each asteroid has a lifecycle of 12 days before they re-spawned in a different location. They are re-respawned immediately which means there are currently 417 asteroids within the Helios system. Asteroids spawn in both Safe and PvP zones and are marked with a zone indicator. Asteroids are associated with the nearest planet but this does not necessarily indicate ones that are associated with a safe zone planet will be located in the non PvP zone

The planet location does not determine the tier of ore. For example an exotic Tier 5 asteroid may be found near Madis or Thades but they will exclusively be in the PvP zones near the planets.

Each asteroid type contains primarily the ore type of the asteroid i.e. Basic type has basic ore. With the primary ore will be a smaller vein of the next tier ore. i.e. Basic has a little uncommon ore. There will be some asteroids that have a single vein of two tiers above e.g. an Uncommon Type asteroid will contain a small vein of Tier 4 or rare ore . With release 1.4 all T1 Basic asteriods now only spawn in the Safe Zone

### Operation

Once attached to a core the DSAT does not have a slot for control so all operation is through the Global Asteroid Tracker (GAT) interface, activate the interface by selecting F. Asteroids go through two stages of discovery

1. Rumoured: The default state after the asteroid has spawned
2. Broadcast: After 120mins of discovery the asteroids location is broadcast and the final destination is known to anyone that opens a DSAT interface

Selecting one of the rumoured asteroids the player starts the discovery scan and will be immediately be given the coordinates to the first of 5 waypoints the destination. Simply set this as your destination and fly to within 10 km of the location to move to the next waypoint, continue in this manner until the final location is found.

The first waypoint is the furthest distance to travel with each further waypoint refining that distance until the final waypoint is usually under 1SU to the asteroid.

## Mining

Currently all asteroids have a diameter of 500m with no atmosphere and minimal gravity. As you dig into the core of the asteroid it will loose its gravitational pull and you will float around quite freely. There is no mini map to help the player with cardinal directions, the azimuth directions using 0, 90, 180, 270 degree and elevation ribbons can (after turning light on with L key)assist the player in getting their bearings. The most common method of mining asteroids is with the players jetpack using x key. The jetpack will hold you stationary, keeping the elevation ribbon at 0 deg choose an azimuth direction with the detection tool [default key bind 3], dig and jetpack in that direction until the distance levels and choose the next direction until the ore is found. Like playing the hot and cold game.

As there is no up in space the player may get disorientated after a while, turning the jetpack off will level you off on the ground, turn it back on then continue.

A jetpack can reach escape velocity and will be free of asteroids gravity at 250m above the surface.

### Strategies for Asteroids.

There are groups of PvP players that roam asteroids and the tend to lie in wait for other players, usually by scanning all the waypoint but not arriving at the destination. If a player wishes to avoid these groups they could pick a time when the PvP groups are generally not online. With exotic tier 5 asteroids some players jetpack to the final destination fill their nanopack and jetpack back to a safe zone. A nanopack full of T5 ore can provide a substantial return. There are strategies PvP groups use to counter this, for example building a room around you so you can only escape by force respawning. In turn there a things a jetpack player can do to count this, providing endless cat and mouse games.

There is always strength in numbers with asteroid mining, whether it is with small hit and run groups or large scale drop ships where providing multiple targets becomes too overwhelming for the enemy. While higher tier asteroids can be mined by the solo player, joining a Corp or group of players provides more opportunities and is generally a rewarding experience.

Community DSAT and Asteroid Mapping Tools

The community offer many public stationary DSAT installations available via surrogate VR, enter a surrogate station and search for DSAT, ODY and Flexx13 and others are public accessible. Community mapping tools are available, for example https://du-map.com has a share group Weekly Asteroid Waypoints that updates rumored to broadcast waypoints.

1. ↑ https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/19794-beta-1-release-notes-last-updated-on-december-16th/&do=findComment&comment=168912