Can I approach a planet's surface in a normal space?

[piss drinka (real (no fake))]

So if I just move to a planet with 300 m/s speed, will I ever touch the surface? So say I'm heading a planet directly from an obrital station outside of supercruise, and game shows me I'll be there in about 2 hours. Will the planet surface render, I is it like when you reach a nearby system in supercruise it won't load anything

[Bannor]

Not only CAN you - there is no other way to approach a planet surface. You want to hit the ground at some fraction of the speed of light?

[piss drinka (real (no fake))]

Originally posted by Bannor:

Not only CAN you - there is no other way to approach a planet surface. You want to hit the ground at some fraction of the speed of light?

I mean, is it scripted that the planet's terrain only starts rendering if you approach it in supercruise, when the altimeter appears and it drops you from sc automatically after reaching a certain altitude? (like with star systems, they only load if you use hyperspace jump to reach them, nothing will appear if you just supercuise from one system to another)

[Mu77ley]

Originally posted by Wee Jock Poo Pong McPlop:

Originally posted by Bannor:

Not only CAN you - there is no other way to approach a planet surface. You want to hit the ground at some fraction of the speed of light?

I mean, is it scripted that the planet's terrain only starts rendering if you approach it in supercruise, when the altimeter appears and it drops you from sc automatically after reaching a certain altitude? (like with star systems, they only load if you use hyperspace jump to reach them, nothing will appear if you just supercuise from one system to another)

Within a system you can fly from anywhere to anywhere without supercruise... if you have enough time on your hands and don't run out of fuel on the way.

For example:

https://youtu.be/XY7E0DEp5yI

Took them 15 hours though...

[Sapyx]

If the planet in question is landable, then yes, you can theoretically fly to it in normal space, without using Supercruise, and land on it. The planet will render properly.

Whether or not you can catch the planet in question is another matter. Normal-space speeds are limited to be far slower than orbital speeds of typical 21st century spaceships. So if, for example, you're on a planet and aiming for a planet's moon, you need to aim your ship not directly at the moon, but at the point in space where the moon is going to be when you reach that distance from the planet.

Example: Earth's Moon orbits the Earth at an average speed of 1023 m/s; most of our ships can't go that fast, not even under boost, though a dedicated racer build might manage it. Attempting to "chase the moon" by aiming for it is futile, because the Moon is moving faster than you. Your best bet is to fly into the Moon's orbital path, and wait for the Moon to hit you, but you'll want to time your arrival carefully so you're not sitting out there at lunar-orbit distance waiting for several weeks.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

But aren't the moon supposed to drag you along with it when you orbit it, so its rotation speed around the Earth wouldn't matter?

[Sapyx]

Yes, but you need to reach the Moon's "sphere of influence" first. Once you hit it, the Moon "catches you" and "speed = 0" becomes relative to the Moon rather than relative to the Earth.

[Dolphin Bottlenose]

Originally posted by Sapyx:

Yes, but you need to reach the Moon's "sphere of influence" first.

Which the orbital station already should have.

Of course, if somebody wants to reach a different planet... But then, it will take a "bit" longer than 2 hours to reach it with normal, not supercruise speeds. :)

[piss drinka (real (no fake))]

So If I just stay still in normal space while being right in the planet's way, it will eventually "catch" me in it's zone of influence and I can then proceed to landing without making any complicated nasa type of calculations to catch up with the planet.

[Roadie]

If you begin planet approach from outside its orbital flight range, yes you can eventually reach the planet surface, but none of the points of interest or planetary bases will be there since they require you to approach it in supercruise and enter glide mode for it to trigger them to render.

I'm also not sure if ground collision will even register if you do it that way. You're more likely to fly straight through it

[piss drinka (real (no fake))]

That seems like the answer I've been looking for