Why Gilly exists? (My personal opinion)

[Jeb, The Lonely Kerbonaut]

Yesterday, i launched a scientific unmanned mission to Gilly. The mission was a sucess, and i transmitted to Kerbin science of the space over Gilly and of all of the (only) 3 biomes of that small moon. 

After the end of the mission, i started to think one thing:

I started to think if Gilly was made propositally by the devs to make a perfect contrast with Eve. I started to think that after i see the caracteristics of Eve and Gilly.

Eve is really big (is the biggest rocky planet of the game). And Gilly is really small (is the smallest body of the game, with the exception of the asteroids).

Eve is the planet with the biggest gravity in the game (1.7 G). And Gilly is the body with the smallest gravity in the game (0.005 G)

The SOI of Eve is big (85,109 km), but the SOI of Gilly is very very small (126 km). 

And the last thing: Eve have a big and thick atmosphere, and Gilly dont have nothing (obviously because of his size).

So, Gilly was made to make a contrast with Eve? Let your opinion here.

[ProtoJeb21]

Gilly being an Eve contrast would make sense. I've always thought it was made to be another challenge in the Eve system that is both easier and harder than the giant purple rock it orbits. Great place for a refueling station or base, but incredibly difficult to even reach. 

[Xyphos]

Gilly is a captured asteroid on a elliptical and inclined orbit around Eve.
Gilly has existed well before resource mining was a thing, but since the mining update,
it's the perfect candidate to build a mining outpost upon, and transport fuel to Low Eve Orbit,
making return missions easier to manage.

Nobody here can determine why Gilly actually exists, but maybe the Devs thought Eve needed a moon.
One can only speculate.

[Haruspex]

Xyphos is right, but even if Gilly is there to serve as a refueling stop, one must remember that -

Gilly is really glitchy. Anything landed on the surface that is left there during exit to the space center/tracking station, or experiences timewarp, has a good chance to explode through "collision with the surface", because the game might decide that your ship isn't actually landed.  I had lander legs explode and mining drills explode on "Easing Physics" phase on Gilly for no apparent reason, and had a lander just disappear and a kerbal listed for dead on exit to the tracking station as well. Miniscule gravity and non-spherical, rotating, shape are the culprits.

So, yes, it's a good place to refuel, but an actual mining outpost there likely won't last long. Get in, mine ore, get out without switching ships, and be prepared to quickload.

Edited October 30, 2017 by Haruspex

[RatchetinSpace]

Planetoids with large mass are more likely to hold onto larger atmospheres and more likely to capture nearby asteroids. Planetoids with smaller mass (Gilly) are less likely/able to.

If we assume the Kerbol system formed like Solar Systems form in our galaxy then it's just a byproduct of gravity doing its thing.

[NSEP]

Eve is easy to get to but hard to leave from and Gilly is hard to get to but easy to leave from.

Edited October 30, 2017 by NSEP

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

On 10/29/2017 at 4:56 PM, Haruspex said:

Xyphos is right, but even if Gilly is there to serve as a refueling stop, one must remember that -

Gilly is really glitchy. Anything landed on the surface that is left there during exit to the space center/tracking station, or experiences timewarp, has a good chance to explode through "collision with the surface", because the game might decide that your ship isn't actually landed.  I had lander legs explode and mining drills explode on "Easing Physics" phase on Gilly for no apparent reason, and had a lander just disappear and a kerbal listed for dead on exit to the tracking station as well. Miniscule gravity and non-spherical, rotating, shape are the culprits.

So, yes, it's a good place to refuel, but an actual mining outpost there likely won't last long. Get in, mine ore, get out without switching ships, and be prepared to quickload.

My Gilly outpost has been there for 40 or 50 years, I think. Since 1.0, I believe. When 1.2 came out, I switched to it and it flew off the surface. I reloaded and landed another ship near it instead (to get it within physics range). I was then able to switch to it and discover the problem. It's not heavy enough, first off (I didn't know enough to make it bigger at the time), but the biggest problem was that 1.2 changed the drills. The large part of the drill (the top part of the drill itself) would no longer go into the ground. My drills were set too low and were now popping up off the ground (the same with all my ore-1.2 miners); and taking the base with it. I docked it to a science module, and I always keep the ore and fuel tanks full for ballast, and thus far, it's stayed on the surface. Even without it trying to float away though, it's tedious to use for refueling, and always has been. I've only used it a handful of times because of it. It's still there though. Have to see how many more updates it survives.

[Space Kadet]

maybe its a nod to Neith

[Taylanian]

I think you`ve got a point

[Fixsme]

On 10/31/2017 at 4:09 PM, Space Kadet said:

maybe its a nod to Neith

Actually Venus has at least one quasi-satellite 2002 VE68, which is more like an asteroid to me (0,5 km)