Gravity Assist Planet - Kopernicus Idea

[hieywiey]

Imagine if there was a planet with such high gravity and no atmosphere, it was begging to be used for gravity assists... But, there is a catch; it is nowhere near a flat planet, in fact, it's quite the opposite. 40 kilometer-high mountains, a ludicrously short day, combined with its low-orbiting moon (about the half the size, but twice the annoyingness as Ike) make exploiting its precious gravity a gamble. Yet, it's tantalizingly close orbit to Kerbin makes it such an irresistible option. Will you take this chance to reap the rewards?

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Requiring just a little more fuel to get to than Minmus, this planet can be a valuable resource to your missions. Just make sure not to crash... With a diameter close to that of Vall, but having a mass so high that it has a density roughly 1½ times that of Kerbin; its gravity will be much higher than that of Kerbin and potentially Eve.

[NotAgain]

On ‎22‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 7:10 PM, hieywiey said:

its gravity will be much higher than that of Kerbin and potentially Eve.

Calm down, Space Bat. I like the idea, but that's crazy.

[Mister Dilsby]

Interesting idea... now if it's really a planet, in solar orbit, then I suppose it could only be "tantalizingly close" during certain windows, as a Planet Slingshot year would not be the same as a Kerbin year... unless of course it was orbiting in exactly the same track as Kerbin, maybe just enough out of phase so that the planets' SOIs don't overlap.

If it's meant to be a moon of Kerbin, orbiting at some distance beyond Minmus...well, the physics model in the game being what it is, there's no reason it couldn't, but I think we'd have to do some extreme hand-waving to explain why something that massive is orbiting Kerbin and not the other way around  

[hieywiey]

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

Interesting idea... now if it's really a planet, in solar orbit, then I suppose it could only be "tantalizingly close" during certain windows, as a Planet Slingshot year would not be the same as a Kerbin year... unless of course it was orbiting in exactly the same track as Kerbin, maybe just enough out of phase so that the planets' SOIs don't overlap.

If it's meant to be a moon of Kerbin, orbiting at some distance beyond Minmus...well, the physics model in the game being what it is, there's no reason it couldn't, but I think we'd have to do some extreme hand-waving to explain why something that massive is orbiting Kerbin and not the other way around  

 

It definitely wouldn't be a moon of Kerbin, as that would make it a barycentric system. I was thinking of it being in the same orbit as Kerbin, just about 15-45º ahead of it. So you'd just need to do a maneuver similar of that going to Eve or Duna, just not a Hohmann transfer (since that wouldn't really be possible). So basically what @Kuzzter described.  If you remember Inaccessible from PlanetFactory, this will be kind of like it. The fast rotation makes landing extremely hard.

[Mister Dilsby]

1 minute ago, hieywiey said:

I was thinking of it being in the same orbit as Kerbin, just about 15-45º ahead of it. So you'd just need to do a maneuver similar of that going to Eve or Duna, just not a Hohmann transfer (since that wouldn't really be possible). 

Yep, that works--my game has a mirror planet called Kerbulus (with moons Num and Nimnus) exactly 180 degrees out of phase with Kerbin. Getting from one to the other requires a two-step sequence: one burn to get out of that orbital track, and a second to get back in at a different point. It's a bit of a pain in the butt. But the upside is that there's no such thing as a transfer window, any time you choose to make the trip is as good/bad as any other  

[hieywiey]

3 hours ago, Kuzzter said:

Yep, that works--my game has a mirror planet called Kerbulus (with moons Num and Nimnus) exactly 180 degrees out of phase with Kerbin. Getting from one to the other requires a two-step sequence: one burn to get out of that orbital track, and a second to get back in at a different point. It's a bit of a pain in the butt. But the upside is that there's no such thing as a transfer window, any time you choose to make the trip is as good/bad as any other  

 

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It should probably be at a more accessible/compatible angle of about 45º-90º.

Edited October 24, 2016 by hieywiey

[Mister Dilsby]

20 minutes ago, hieywiey said:

It should probably be at a more accessible/compatible angle of about 45º-90º.

Ah, but it's not supposed to be accessible, it's supposed to be invisible! See, I write this webcomic here on the Forum, and--ah, never mind. I'll just move the planet, it's easier than explaining  

[hieywiey]

1 hour ago, Kuzzter said:

Ah, but it's not supposed to be accessible, it's supposed to be invisible! See, I write this webcomic here on the Forum, and--ah, never mind. I'll just move the planet, it's easier than explaining  

 

I'm saying my planet should be at 45º-90º as to not conflict with Kerbulus.