how many ships should I be sending out?

ok so I read that and I've tried it and this has happen twicw
Your explorers have found abandoned ships in perfect condition.
They found:
They come back with nothing is this a bug or what is happing?

What does Expedition Technology do?

I'm looking for a good starter group and every page I go to looks like you have to have so many ponits to join I just started and am looking for a good group of people