SaturnianBlue

Oh wow! I didn't notice it, but I'm assuming the blue smudge to the left is it, right?

Drove to Kentucky to watch the eclipse - it was like sunset, but the salmon pink of it all could be seen from all directions. I didn't get to see any planets, unfortunately, but I saw the diamond ring effect. Come to think of it, these eclipses are a pretty effective way to point out that the sun is in fact white, and not yellow.

Couldn't help myself, could I!

Tylo—The biggest moon in the Kerbol system, at a size equivalent to that of Kerbin. Though difficult to land on, it does have its advantages. Why Settle? First, Tylo is the farthest of the major moons from Jool. This also means that the radiation received from the radiation belt is the lowest. Additionally, Tylo has its own magnetosphere to provide additional protection. Those factors mean that vessels require little shielding. For interplanetary vessels, this is especially helpful, since such vessels need all the delta-V they can get, and shielding will decrease it. This is also important for orbital space habitats, which will require far less shielding. Peculiar for a moon far from Kerbol, Tylo is apparently rocky, and it would be unsurprising to see significant amounts of metals, which the resource scans show. That said, the resource scans are pretty much always like this, so I desired something that would give more unique details, while still making sense. I stumbled on to the DMagic science mod, which adds a lot of science instruments with detailed descriptions—just what I needed. The descriptions are quite detailed, and suggest that Tylo is in fact quite rocky, made mostly of silicates and some metal. Apparently, the craters tend to have high concentrations of titanium and iron, while more elevated locations have more aluminum. If the industrial capacity exists to create titanium, Tylo could produce high-quality spacecraft on-site. Lastly, the gravity on Tylo is a full 0.8 G, easily enough to prevent the effects of low gravity and erasing the need for any spinning habitats. Unfortunately, this would probably prevent anyone who has lived in low gravity for much of their lives from coming here, and the spacesuits would be uncomfortable to use. Issues It takes a tremendous amount of energy to get to and from Tylo’s surface. While various launch methods could be used to reduce these effects, such as mass drivers. Though mass drivers can get ships most of the way to orbit, its use in landing is limited mostly to killing horizontal velocity, requiring the vessel to burn its rockets on the way down. A better option would be an orbital ring, since cargo can be moved up and down. Space elevators can work, but a synchronous orbit is outside Tylo’s SOI, so they would only work partially. One of the first priorities for an early colony will be to build a non-rocket launch system, since they would save cost with any of these options. For the most part, Tylo is devoid of water, with both the DMagic instrument readings and the resource scans agreeing. However, there could be some ice trapped inside the poles of the moon, where it is never exposed to light. The other option is to import it from Vall and Laythe, which are virtually covered in forms of water. Colony Designs Constructing a space-rated settlement in the 0.8 G of Tylo is quite difficult, but this also erases the need for spinning habitats. Much like the Mun, the relative placement of cities may be similar, with polar cities utilizing the in-situ water ice, and equatorial cities launching ships into equatorial orbits. A combination of quarries and automated mining vehicles collect resources, with the latter becoming increasingly more useful as the surrounding area is quarried. Fast, carries a lot of material, but terrible at turning Since it would be difficult to dig into the Tylo’s rock, habitats would just use regolith for any radiation shielding. Most of these habitats would likely be rounded and inflatable, with most connections done via tunnel to avoid the loss of oxygen with airlocks and radiation exposure. When I covered similar habitats on the Mun, I mentioned how lava tubes could exist for habitats to be built inside, and also how they didn’t exist in-game. Even though Tylo’s gravity is much higher, which would impart more stress on such formations, the easter egg cave exists as an in-game example, and it is huge! Over a kilometer in size, a full sized city containing thousands could be built, with no shielding required except for the entrance point. Unfortunately, the cave will have to be coated to prevent the loss of air if it is to be fully inhabited. Colony Progression One of the major reasons Tylo may be settled is to help develop Vall and mainly Laythe—with so much less radiation near orbit, interplanetary ships can enter into Tylo’s huge SOI with no issue, and transfer their cargo at orbital stations to ships better suited for the voyage, while the interplanetary vessels are loaded up with metals and manufactured products from Tylo, and shipments from Vall and Laythe delivered by other shielded vessels. As such, there may be many space stations orbiting Tylo to support the transfer and storage of huge volumes of cargo, and plenty of space for shops for recently paid ship-crew to spend their cash away. Simply put, Tylo would become the transportation hub of Jool, provided very light radiation shielding doesn’t become viable. A flow chart of sorts—as you can see, most resources coming or going towards interplanetary destinations pass through Tylo. Most colonization efforts on the surface will be based around mining, with each major colony having a mass driver to fire their cargo up to the various space stations, or right to the nearby moons. Since mining operations will be mostly automated, the population of each colony will likely never exceed a few thousand, and would be quite scattered and somewhat isolated Since mass drivers can only do most of the work for getting to orbit and back, there’s a good chance that a space tug industry will spring up around Tylo to compensate for this, although it may become obsolete if a giant construction project like an orbital ring is built. As the population of Tylo increases, support for cave/lava tube colonies may increase. However, many younger kerbals may choose to leave Tylo for Laythe or for the orbital space stations, seeing that they are far more active places in general. Summary Tylo is rich in metal, with a fairly comparable gravity to Kerbin. Thank to the lower amounts of radiation out here, it becomes an ideal terminus for interplanetary voyages, with transportation to the other moons provided by well-shielded vessels. This effectively makes it a transportation hub, resulting in high demand for space stations. On the surface, mining colonies spring up, with the possibility of cities in giant caves. End of Chapter XVIII Thanks for reading! Next: Colonizing Bop and Pol

Same, I probably have a backlog of months from that show!

My personal favorites are Startalk (though I don't listen to it as much as I used to), The Skeptics Guide to the Universe, and the Infinite Monkey Cage.

I'm a Delta II rocket flying over Saturn, so i'll be fine—until it runs out of fuel and plunges into Saturn's atmosphere, so it's really not the zombies that would be concerning.

I've finished writing up the Tylo chapter and started taking the pictures for it. I should point out that I probably won't be that active in the next week, and the chapters after Tylo may have to wait. In the meantime, I've added a further info section to the first post for more general Sci-Fi info, since Imagining a Kerbal Future is more focused on details unique to KSP.

I could see that, it explains a lot.

Good idea! There's still a relative lack of space missiles, I must say.

Where, specifically?

An F-22 fires an AMRAAM and a few flares over the mountains, afterburners on.

The smallest of the major Joolian moons, Vall rests right in between the giants of Tylo and Laythe. Why Settle? As mentioned in earlier chapters, low gravity is quite harmful—and Vall certainly is host to that, with only 0.235 G. However, this also means that landing and taking off are significantly easier, making the other moons quite accessible, and resources become quite distributable. This is helped by the fact that unlike Bop and Pol, it is located near Jool, where travel times are low, and is in an equatorial orbit. Therefore, mass drivers are quite effective on Vall, since mined resources can quickly be sent to Laythe and Tylo, with no atmosphere to stop the payload, but aerobraking is usable in Laythe's case. In terms of prospection, Vall can be seen as quite good… and… Not as good. Like many places in the Kerbol system, the amount of resources available seems to be quite diverse in many regards, though Alumina is in short supply. Combined with the relative accessibility of orbit, this makes Vall quite a good place for the shipping of raw material. However, the gamma-ray spectrometer tool seems to show that Vall is completely depleted of radioactive elements… Except for the fact that Uranium ore makes up a few percent of the total resources available. Clearly, they conflict. One possibility leaves Vall quite dependent, while the other makes it quite capable. This isn’t even the only conflict. I don't know about you, but this looks like a mini-comet with ice to me. Though Vall clearly has a rather icy surface, and it being an analogue to the icy Europa, the resource scans show only hydrates, not pure water. The rocks there are dirty ice-balls and the mountain ridges appear to be eroded craters. Each vision would significantly change interest in Vall. Without much water on Vall, it becomes significantly harder to dig into the surface for habitation, and it also makes it getting the bare necessities for life harder. This would also boost Laythe’s position even more, since they become the main source of water in the Joolian system (Tylo is apparently rocky). With water though, the picture is completely flipped, and Vall would be far better off. Edit: In practically all the biomes, the DMagic Orbital Science mod descriptions think that the composition of the surface is ice, with copper-containing compounds being the reason behind Vall's bluish tint. Issues Like Laythe, Vall has the possibility of harboring extraterrestrial life. Assuming an icy composition, the tidal heating from the other moons and Jool would heat the subsurface ice, creating a global underground ocean, where life could survive, perhaps near hydrothermal vents, the only source of energy in the deep, dark expanse. Though drilling into the ice would be perfectly fine, the ocean itself may be quarantined to protect life, though that doesn’t necessarily stop people from trying. If there is no life, the oceans could be opened up for settlement, and the conditions would be fairly mild and maintainable. Radiation from Jool would be a serious problem, especially without a strong magnetic field or atmosphere to protect equipment and personnel. Granted, Vall is a fair ways farther from Jool, but the colonists should drill underground for safety. With ice, this could be done as easily as having a powerful heat source, such as a nuclear reactor, perhaps ironically enough. This ship gets around the issue by using it's water cargo as a radiation shield and for propellant. Colony Designs A major design consideration for a colony on Vall would be the radiation, mainly by digging underground, or using nearby materials (like regolith) to protect the colonists. In the case of tunneling underground, it would save mass to just use a nuclear reactor (probably from Kerbin) to melt the ice. The water melted could also be used as a coolant and shielding once the reactor is used mainly for electricity. Once an ideal depth is reached, more tunnels can be dug to provide space for living. A likely possibility for the walls of these habitats is concrete, with both rocks for cement and water available for its production. A cut-away view of the Vall colony. This would probably support a few thousand residents. From orbit, there would be very little visible—in order to reduce radiation exposure, most operations are done underground, or automated/teleoperated. Landing pads would probably be underground, with shielded doors opening and closing to allow a landing, to reduce radiation dosage. The various chapters in the Joolian system and feedback have exposed a big problem for a Vallian colony in the beginning—energy. It would be difficult to refuel fission reactors, given the lack of fissiles. Some deuterium might be in water ice, but it would be a long time before there is any economic incentive to manufacture fusion reactors around Jool. That said, options like capturing charged particles in the radiation belts and generating electricity, electrodynamic tethers, and beaming power from the inner Kerbol system are other options, though each have their own issues—beaming power, for example, would suffer from diffraction very badly, so orbital mirrors might be needed to refocus the energy. When it comes to feeding the colonists, orbital mirrors can also be used, though their effectivity is questionable, and it takes a lot of infrastructure to support such a thing. A better option would be to use artificial lighting, which can make better use of the specific range of wavelengths used by plants. However, this exacerbates the issue with energy, though genetic and technological enhancements could make photosynthesis more effective. A more extreme colony idea would be to dig all the way down to the ocean, where temperatures are more suitable for living, and provides easy access to water. This idea, of course, could easily be stopped in the interest of protecting alien life, if discovered. The colony would probably be built on the ice layer floating on the ocean, since it wouldn’t experience the intense pressure at the bottom. The Progression of Vall (assuming an icy composition) The first incentive for a colony on Vall may be to supply water to the rest of the Joolian colonies, since Laythe would be a more difficult source requiring more delta-V and more filtering to use. The colony is set up mostly autonomously, so the colonists do not encounter much radiation building the colony from the surface. Materials collected during the mining of the colonies would partially contribute to building a mass driver that would first reduce cargo costs, and then would eventually be used for people as the track is lengthened. There would be few orbital stations here, due to the need for massive quantities of material to shield kerbals and electronics. Instead, more and more underground structures are built. In general, Vall would probably be a bit left behind compared to Tylo and Laythe, and would feature a smaller population, having both radiation and being less habitable—unless the oceans are exploited. This would be harder to do than on Laythe though, but perhaps this could work as a low gravity alternative, especially if technological advancements have not adapted the kerbal body for prolonged life in zero-g. Summary This presumably icy moon may not be as habitable as Laythe, but easy access to ice makes this a very useful world nonetheless. End of Chapter XVII Thanks for reading! Next: Colonizing Tylo

Interesting! That quite the clever idea! I'll have to think about it, but it does have a lot of potential when it comes to fixing some of the issues. It would be nice if actual fleets of ships appeared, but I suppose they could just be used for screenshots, and not the actual combat. Good idea, though a Dyson sphere might be bit out of this thread's scope, but I'll consider it nonetheless.

I could definitely see Laythe as being pretty rich, and the population would probably be several times more than the rest of the Joolian moons combined. Alternative launch systems are difficult to do, certainly, though a mod for mass drivers does exist. I'd probably have to be depicted in other ways. Perhaps the Kerbal Konstructs mod could be used. I've tried a bit of space warfare in KSP and it hasn't really gone great. I think damage is modeled in some level in BDArmory, but not much. As for the other issue, some mods exist for multiple ships to fly together, but it is nonetheless difficult. Missile fleets would probably be the most difficult, since any useful amount of missiles would up the part count well into the hundreds, and combined with the ships themselves, the game would perform quite poorly. The other problem is with the weapons systems, since BDarmory mostly limits weapon ranges to 10-20 kilometers, and I haven't found any mods with very powerful lasers. I suppose that does make it a decent topic for covering though, since I'll have to come up with creative solutions to it all. I'd like to, but for now the colonization series has dragged on quite a while. OPM's probably the most popular planet pack, but there's a few other major ones, and covering them would take a long time. That said, I might do a chapter on interstellar colonization in general.

I'd love to—though it's definitely a pretty broad topic. However, I want to cover space warfare (specifically on how it might be done using KSP) and alternative launch systems first. Other ideas for chapters—the anomalies, and a general view on the various methods of how one might choose to depict scenes for a story they would write.

Yep.

Just KSP-Interstellar Extended, I believe.

@MatterBeam I'd imagine a Laytheian culture would be pretty lax about a lot of things, especially with fairly little to worry about. True, in-land habitats would probably be best, though in some cases this might increase their altitude and therefore their radiation dose. Now that I think of it though, would it be possible that the rain on Laythe might have ammonia in it? Ships and boats would be pretty hard to build, and I suppose the ocean colonies would need a barrier. I suppose the energy sources could be imported, but that would certainly make it quite costly, and discourage some corporations from moving in. Edit: In the Jupiter entry on Tough Sci-Fi you mentioned pykrete, but being ice, it perform best below freezing. Would another material be used for habitation spaces, where the temperature is higher?

-I wouldn't exactly call Laythe small, but the point still holds. As for the habitability making things cheaper, I did kind of overlook that—equipment wouldn't have to be shielded much, making their operation and construction much easier. -If you look at the first drawing you can see that little domes beach resort thing—if the oceans were a bit more habitable, I probably would've just had it near the edge, mixing with the ocean. Do you have any ideas as to how the ammonia might be removed? -The CO2 being the only issue for the air is quite helpful in the case of habitat breach, I'd imagine some CO2 scrubbers activating to keep everything working, and it makes sabotage of a big habitat less dangerous. -Especially in the early stages, energy harvesting would be quite difficult, though by the time orbital mirrors get set up, wouldn't the construction of the more complex energy sources be more viable? -Interesting idea! It would probably work in the Joolian system as well, though I suspect Jool's magnetosphere might not be as powerful, so it might not be as effective.

Colonizing Laythe The first Joolian moon in this series, Laythe is distant, but it is perhaps the best place in the Kerbol system to colonize. Presumably tidal heating, volcanoes, and greenhouse gases keep this distant moon warm enough for a liquid ocean at Kerbin temperatures. Why Settle? Laythe would probably quite similar in composition to Kerbin, considering the two share many similarities. The surveys, for the most part, agree. For example, Laythe has a high amount of geothermal energy, which can be exploited by early colonists. Many of the islands on Laythe appear to be volcanic in nature, so igneous rock rich in metals should be easily accessible. Laythe also has good access to radioactive elements, so nuclear reactors should have little problem refueling, something quite difficult on smaller worlds. Laythe is perhaps the only world where the celestial body’s habitability in itself is a big advantage. First, Laythe’s gravity is at a comfortable 0.8 G, which should be more than enough to ensure the wellbeing of colonists. The pressure at sea level is at 0.6 atmospheres, which should allow buildings to be constructed in a fashion not dissimilar to that of Kerbin, and would very much lessen the risk of violent depressurization, and protects the surface from the dangerous radiation belts of Jool. The atmosphere should also allow aerocapture at lower velocities, as well as the use of both conventional and nuclear jet engines. Such conditions should make the operation and construction of equipment quite easy. The atmosphere of Laythe contains oxygen, and while the atmosphere in itself cannot be breathed by kerbals, likely due to a high concentration of carbon dioxide, this does mean that kerbals can get their own air in-situ. All that should be needed for survival on Laythe is a gas mask and perhaps a jacket. Laythe’s oceans appear to be comprised of a mix of mostly water and ammonia, which would certainly allow the oceans to exist in frigid temperatures, though the temperatures at Laythe are warm anyway. Not only does this mean that water is available in vast amounts, ammonia is available for use in fertilizers, rocket fuel and more. The oceans also have heavy water, for collecting deuterium, which can be used for fairly achievable fusion. The magnetometer instrument suggests that Laythe has a magnetic field, which should partially protect orbital craft. However, it does not change the fact that getting to Laythe still requires transit through the radiation belts. Issues The habitability and access to large reserves of oxygen suggests a very big issue in colonizing the world—extraterrestrial life. Oxygen is unstable and reactive, which must mean that it is constantly being replenished. While possible that other processes are at play, life could be another reason for this. This significantly complicates the settlement of this moon, since said life may not react well to the presence of Kerbin life, perhaps to the point of extinction. If so, the colonists must take major precautions to protect life, or even quarantine the entire moon to settlement. If the life is quite similar and is safe to interact with, settlement should be ok, though opposition will inevitably exist. At worst, such a debate could devolve into an open conflict. The tidal forces experienced by Laythe no doubt results in major volcanic activity, which is likely the source of many of the islands. Though obviously not seen in-game, they’d certainly put any kerbals living on the shores and islands on edge. Perhaps the oceans may be an interesting alternative… Though Laythe itself should be quite protected from the danger of Jool’s radiation belts, getting there is another story. To get to Laythe, a ship still has to pass through the belt, which will require heavy shielding of the craft. Though Laythe may be the best place to live, it may be more expensive, since interplanetary imports will have to travel to Tylo, where the radiation isn’t as bad, before being shipped to Laythe via more shielded vessels. The atmosphere of Laythe is certainly quite welcome, but it also makes getting to space more complicated. Instead of a fairly simple mass driver placed level to the ground, a launch loop or a space elevator would be needed. Since Laythe is quite deep in the gravity well, it also takes more delta-V to get to the other moons as well. Colony Designs Colony design would be interesting—with conditions better than Duna, yet not quite to the level of Kerbin. Colonies would probably not require radiation shielding, so building would be extremely simple. If it does, the volcanic sands should be a simple solution to the issue. The only major requirement necessitated for buildings are airlocks to prevent any toxic gas from seeping in. The surrounding atmosphere at sea level is at 0.6 bars, so with a slightly higher oxygen mixture than usual inside, the kerbals should be able to function as usual, and the habitat shouldn’t suffer from stress, and any punctures wouldn’t be immediately destructive. If that happens, air scrubbers could clean the air up, at least for a while. For larger designs, this also makes sabotage quite difficult, unlike the domes on Duna, which could probably be near-instantly devastated by a powerful laser strike. Due to the relatively few challenges faced with building colonies on Laythe, the kerbals would quickly expand, and even habitats not too distant would just be driven or walked too, instead of having a direct connection. As for the actual aesthetics of this colony, I imagine that the kerbals be quite liberal with their designs, without many stringent requirements. Perhaps cubes could be a popular design, as they could be utilized quite well, and could be quite easily stacked or connected. Fusion reactors should be quite usable, with access to deuterium in the ocean and helium-3 from Jool. Helium-3 would have the least trouble being transported here, as Laythe is the closest moon, and has an atmosphere for aerocapture. Discounting that, nuclear, geothermal, and possibly wind and hydropower can also use sources in-situ. Any vessel in orbit can probably use power beamed by the electrodynamic tethers for their own power. In terms of life support, early colonies will quite easily be self-sufficient, with sources of water and air easily extractable, with fertilizer and energy to grow crops under artificial lighting. For a larger design, I can think of a few, such as the giant domes, explored earlier in multiple chapters, or maybe huge arcologies, but I wanted to explore a particularly unique design, so I picked the floating city. Such a design may have a few advantages, like being quite invulnerable to disasters like tsunamis and volcanoes, and they can better utilize much of Laythe’s surface, covered in water, so the land can be used for other purposes like mining. Many cities would be mobile, so they can be moved where their presence is most needed. However, an ocean city has to be built from the ground up (and the ground, too), and mining is more difficult, though the oceans are opened up to do so. However, cities based on mining will probably be stationary for long periods. In any case, let’s examine what such a design may look like. Placing this colony on the equator means access to the warmest possible temperature of about 296 K, and plenty of room to expand. Food is grown here on huge floating islands open to the environment, and receive their light from space-based orbital mirrors. The plants take in the vast amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help increase the oxygen levels from 18.6 % to a more ideal amount. Though this reduces the greenhouse effect on the planet, the orbital mirrors also increase solar irradiance, so they should balance out. Water will have to be obtained by desalination and removing the ammonia that is in the ocean water. If fusion reactors exist at this point, the energy costs related shouldn’t be a serious problem. The residences will be located in one main skyscraper, so kerbals avoid the need for a sealed vehicle or a gas mask to get around. Home to thousands of people, the facility would give great views of the surrounding ocean and the moons, with everything located within walking distance. If Jool’s radiation belts start acting up a lot, dedicated shelters should protect the residents. Such colonies may be home to prominent biotechnology labs, with so many plants available, and to benefit terraforming efforts. Some colonies may attach themselves to the ocean floor to areas with significant access to resources, with resources and people working their way to and from the ocean floor by spiraling their way down in shuttles. Would you live here? Ideally, these islands should be combinable to form larger communities that would sprawl for kilometers, and would therefore allow more specialization and even more islands to be built. Transportation to these locations and around Laythe will likely require the use of aircraft, or boats, which could carry massive amounts of freight around. A more extreme form of transportation would be trains, since they would require digging under the ocean for hundreds of kilometers to connect the various islands. Life in these colonies would be quite relaxed, since there is no fear of depressurization, falling, or fried—anyone living on Dres, for example, might be surprised by this. The Progression of Laythe Due to the distance from Kerbin, economic interest would remain low in Laythe, though scientific expeditions would reveal it’s habitability, and would be heavily researched. The reason for this is that Laythe’s thick atmosphere and location would make it difficult to access for mining, especially when other good moons exist. If life is found, it may raise objections to colonizing the moon, especially if they do not interact well, but this timeline we will assume that either no life exists, or can coexist peacefully. However, the atmosphere would encourage resource processing—the distant moons of Jool like Bop and Pol, and small nearby asteroids may not have the required infrastructure to do so. So why then, is Laythe’s atmosphere beneficial? It allows resources sent down to be aerobraked into orbit, where ships can send it off to the various moons around Jool. Ships can also use Tylo as a powerful gravity assist, especially if these ships are more about carrying a large supply of material, instead of speed. If it becomes reasonably cheap for a person to travel to another world, Laythe may be their first choice, besides Kerbin. Immigration to Jool would probably be driven mainly by Laythe, as it would be the preferred choice for settlement, and may benefit the entire Joolian system, since some kerbals may end up working on the other moons as well. Most would choose to settle on the islands near the equator, where the climate is quite temperate. It is possible that some mining will take place, but it may be more about sustaining the massive amounts of construction spurred by the habitability of the moon, compared to profit. With the establishment of cheaper launch methods like elevated mass drivers, however, it may be quite effective to export goods, like fuel, water, and yes, valuable metals. As the population increases, more habitation space must be built, and this could be somewhat intrusive to any mining operations near high areas of metal. It therefore makes sense to build arcologies, and by extent, floating cities. This would also provide lots of space for other purposes, like tourism, which would be fairly cheap inside the Joolian system. Laythe would probably become the social, cultural, political and economic hub of the Joolian system, and would likely dominate services. On the other hand, the space around Laythe would be quite desolate, because the magnetosphere of Laythe would only go so far to protect the moon. A populated Laythe, with cities on the ocean and land, and orbital mirrors. Being almost, but not entirely like Kerbin, Laythe would be the easiest world to terraform. As mentioned earlier, exposed greenery can grow with the use of orbital mirrors, heating up the planet, but also get rid of carbon dioxide in the air, so it would be somewhat cooled as well. Once the carbon dioxide levels are brought down to lower concentrations, kerbals will be able to walk around without the use of a gas mask, making Laythe even more favorable. Especially if carbon dioxide isn’t the only dangerous factor, the process of pantropy can be utilized, where the kerbals themselves are adapted to live in the environment. However, this would certainly make it harder for kerbals without such an adaption to visit Laythe. Summary Though distant and not necessarily the most profitable world, Laythe is an island of paradise; without it, there would be fairly little interest in the Joolian system. Thanks for Reading! Next Chapter: Colonizing Vall

A Dres miner and refiner probe, operating on liquid ammonia for it's engine reaction mass. A Mun lander capable of carrying many tons to the surface.

Laythe might have a stronger magnetic field—probably on par with Kerbin. If it does get bad tough, I suppose on the surface the volcanic sands would work just fine as a cover, or habitats could be built underground. I agree with the ocean part—one of the concepts I suggested has that as on elf its points. I actually haven't seen Series 10 of Doctor Who, but in any case, I don't mind the change.

I've dedicated bit of the chapter on Laythe on a few terraforming techniques, coincidentally. I like the idea of asteroids—though one would certainly have to make sure it can't cause any harm when it hits. Either that, or asteroids/comets could get hurled into the atmosphere, and some gasses might get released during the flyby. A terraforming chapter is a good idea, I might do that, or add a section to each of the colonization chapters.

@Kosmonaut Orbital mirrors might work for farming though, like Ganymede in The Expanse. Based on the reports from various submarine challenges, it seems like the oceans go down at least 2 kilometers, which should allow some interpretation of that design. The other designs are quite interesting—I remember that Doctor Who episode. Admittedly I don't really see how they'd be better than habitats based on the surface though.