CMDR PAUSANIAS

Back in the 80’s we had 2 Commodore 64’s set up in the back bedroom of our two bed house on a homemade bench, my then wife made it to ELITE on hers but I only made DEADLY on mine. Many years later I was trawling around the internet and came across the ELITE DANGEROUS Kickstarter, I followed the games progress waiting for a MAC version but around BETA I couldn’t wait any longer so I bought a PC with a 680 processor in it, went straight for a DK2 and bought the game paying for a lifetime pass, so I’ve always played in VR. Over the games development I bought a gaming PC with a 980 in, then updated to a 1080 and in October 2014 bought a 2080TI which was well worth the cash, I’ve also updated my DK2 to an Oculus Rift and recently added Voice Attack. I’ve been playing since October 2014, in VR, and do not use my PC for any other purpose than playing Elite. I’ve finally made it to ELITE (Triple Elite) 30 years on!

My biography image is the ancient Nebra sky disk.

The Nebra sky disk is a bronze disk of around 30 centimeters diameter and a weight of 2.2 kilograms, with a blue-green patina and inlaid with gold symbols. These are interpreted generally as a sun or full moon, a lunar crescent, and stars (including a cluster interpreted as the Pleiades). Two golden arcs along the sides, marking the angle between the solstices, were added later. A final addition was another arc at the bottom surrounded with multiple strokes (of uncertain meaning, variously interpreted as a Solar Barge with numerous oars, as the Milky Way, or as a rainbow). My take is that it is Halleys Comet.

The disk is attributed to a site near Nebra, Saxony-Anhalt, in Germany, and associatively dated to c. 1600 BC. It has been associated with the Bronze Age Unetice culture.

The style in which the disk is executed was unlike any artistic style then known from the period, with the result the object was initially suspected of being a forgery, but it is now widely accepted as authentic.

The Nebra sky disk features the oldest concrete depiction of the cosmos yet known from anywhere in the world. In June 2013 it was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register and termed "one of the most important archaeological finds of the twentieth century."

CMDR PAUSANIAS

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