.17 Planet information

[A Fat Pokemon]

This thread is to compile some basic information of the planets, as I've landed on every single one now, and am just doing the same with the moons. Below are my finds of the planets and moons, and if anybody would like to add, I will update the main post with the new info

(All information provided will be considered, as some might not be exact, and anything useful to this list will be added if its not, so please share your finds )

A good spreadsheet for for some information on the orbits and physical characteristics on the planets/moons:

Here's a spreadsheet I threw together based on information extracted from the game by Nadrek:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuySrGPsDeq2dFVpTkJUNTktT19xNFVOTTVuZE1ZQWc#gid=0

The KSP wiki is also a good source of information on the planets/moons: http://kspwiki.nexisonline.net/wiki/Duna

Note: With air breathing engines, the efficiency rises on each planets atmosphere, as well with Laythe, but it hasn't been confirmed if they do or not they actually "work," except for Laythe, which has been confirmed.

Duna:

-Atmosphere bar shades at: (41k edge), 26.6Km, 14.4Km, 3.1Km

(The atmosphere is about 20% that of Kerbin, so a powered landing might be required)

-Air-breathing engines do not work.

-

Through Kepler's Third Law, I have found that the ratio of Kerbin's orbital period to Duna's orbital period is ~0.52 (In one kerbin orbit, Duna moves approximately (0.52*360) degrees, or 189 degrees). I found it using 13*10^6 meters for Kerbin's orbit, and 20*10^6 for Duna's orbit.

For a Hohmann Transfer from Kerbin to Duna ( 13*10^6 meters to 20*10^6 meters), the ratio is 0.75, and Duna will move ~135 degrees. In other words, when the angle between Kerbin and Duna is ~45 degrees, start your transfer burn.

Derivations/Work:

T1/T2 = 2pisqrt((2*R1)^3/g)/2pisqrt((2*R2)^3/g) (ratios of Kepler's Third Law)

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*R1)^3/g)/sqrt((2*R2)^3/g) ("2pi"s cancel out)

T1/T2 = sqrt(((2*R1)^3/g)/((2*R2)^3/g)) (Root division property)

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*R1)^3/(2*R2)^3) (Division and "g"s and "2"s cancel out)

Plug-in values for R1 and R2 with the orbital radii from any two planets.

-Nuclear engines work well on Duna due to the thin atmosphere, about an average of 700 impulse at ground level

-Possible to glide in and land with the right setup

-Easiest planet to visit and return from, that's if your going for a landing

-The red-ish planet!

-Gravity: 2.94

-

{Ike:

-No atmosphere

-The gravity seems somewhat similar to Minmus's

Eve:

-Atmosphere bar shades at (100k edge), 84-85k, 56k, 28-29k

-Requires the least Delta-V of the planets to reach

-I found that engaging your parachutes too early will result in them being ripped off before even fully deploying, but it may be related to my ship design

-Make sure your ladders touch the ground, or atleast a kerbal does not have to jump to grab one like on Kerbin or elsewhere, you most likely won't be able to reach it.

-A spaceplane can work well here, due to the thick atmosphere

-Air-breathing engines do not work.

-Gravity: 16.68

{Gilly:

- "Bugged surface"

-Gravity: 0.005

Jool:

-Atmosphere bar shades at (138k edge), 130k, 90k, 53k

-Air-breathing engines do not work.

-You can "land" on Jool, at a point where your craft will have just stopped moving, though you'll become part of the Krakens meal

-Aerobraking should only be done in the first few K of the atmosphere, e.g: 127-130k is a great altitude for this

-

With a Hohmann transfer, launch about 83.5 degrees ahead of Jool.

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*65.5)^3/(13+65.5)^3)

T1/T2 = sqrt(0.22)

T1/T2 = 0.46

0.46*360 = 167 degrees

167/2 = 83.5 (Division by two for only half of the orbit)

-Gravity: 7.85?

{Laythe:

-The gravity is similar to Kerbin's

-Mostly water as most people would know, but with a few mounds of land

-Atmosphere starts at 55,250M

-Atmosphere bar layers at (? edge), 41k, 24.5k, 9k

-Atmosphere is about half of that of Kerbin, so spaceplanes might have a bit of trouble

-Above the ocean, parachutes deploy at 14000M, and fully open at 500M (I believe, the 14000M and 500M vary depending on the height of the land you are above,

if you are above any, so in addition to the 14000M and 500M, the height of the land is added)

-Air-breathing engines work (The turbojet? engines seem to have a max altitude of around 6Km)

-Gravity: 7.85

{Vall:

-Mun like gravity

-Gravity: 2.3

-No higher than 1X warp till 24500M

{Tylo:

-No atmosphere

-Gravity: 7.85

{Bop:

-No atmosphere

-Gravity: 0.59

Moho:

-Atmosphere is very thin, atmosphere bar changes at around 27.8k

-Atmosphere bar shades at: (40k edge?), 17-23k, 10k, 3k

-It IS possible to land on Moho, but it requires you to watch your throttle and engine overheating very carefully, as your engines might explode (I would recommend some high thrust engines for your descent, as you can kill your velocity faster and not worry so much about overheating)

(Trying to land in the "eye" of Moho results in your whole ship exploding, as I found out, but you can land on both the dark side and light side)

-Parachutes will not work almost everywhere, except almost at the very bottom of the odd looking crater on the side facing Kerbol, but even then you would not be able to land.

-a 30k by 30k orbit requires you to be going about 900m/s, so you will probably need a lot of fuel.

-Air-breathing engines do not work.

-It seems that at around 30k? your engines change colour, possibly indicating when your engines will start to overheat from being used.

-There are two volcanoes on Moho, the visible one on the light side, and another directly opposite of it on the dark side. Landing inside the light side volcanoe results in exploding, but it is unknown if the same happens with the back. (The volcanoes also make great landing spots, as they are higher up, and the lower you go, the more quickly your engines overheat.)

This list is for the approximate delta-V required to obtain said orbit or escape the atmosphere:

Laythe: A delta-V of 2960 for a Laythe surface to 65km (~10 above atmo) orbit.

Eve: It takes approximently 11,500 m/s delta-v to acheive a 100km orbit from Eve's surface, with a TWR of 1.5 to 2.

(Sorry if this doesn't get completed very fast and its not exactly accurate, or well worded either)

I will be updating this thread as I find more info, and if any info is submitted

Edited October 10, 2012 by A Fat Pokemon

[Stoup]

When I first reached Duna I used a bunch of debris as atmospheric probes, and I thusly gathered the following data:

Atmosphere top: 41 km

First shade (from left) on atmospheric bar starts at: 27km

Second shade:~14.5km

Third shade:3km

[untitled]

Through Kepler's Third Law, I have found that the ratio of Kerbin's orbital period to Duna's orbital period is ~0.52 (In one kerbin orbit, Duna moves approximately (0.52*360) degrees, or 189 degrees). I found it using 13*10^6 meters for Kerbin's orbit, and 20*10^6 for Duna's orbit.

For a Hohmann Transfer from Kerbin to Duna ( 13*10^6 meters to 20*10^6 meters), the ratio is 0.75, and Duna will move ~135 degrees. In other words, when the angle between Kerbin and Duna is ~45 degrees, start your transfer burn.

Derivations/Work:

T1/T2 = 2pisqrt((2*R1)^3/g)/2pisqrt((2*R2)^3/g) (ratios of Kepler's Third Law)

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*R1)^3/g)/sqrt((2*R2)^3/g) ("2pi"s cancel out)

T1/T2 = sqrt(((2*R1)^3/g)/((2*R2)^3/g)) (Root division property)

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*R1)^3/(2*R2)^3) (Division and "g"s and "2"s cancel out)

Plug-in values for R1 and R2 with the orbital radii from any two planets.

Edited September 23, 2012 by untitled

[Maxed-Rockets]

Eve:

-Atmosphere starts at ?

{Laythe:

-Atmosphere starts at 50k?

Eve atmo is about 100k.

Laythe atmo starts at 55,250m.

[Exclipse]

Here are my observations.

Duna:

-Powered landing is not actually required, you can glide in with the right wing set up. Parachutes can also be used.

-Air-breathing jets, no. I tried them got a max of .5 efficiency, but even with that they did not seem to produce thrust. My glider did not even fidget with them at max throttle.

-Nuclear engines work well on Duna, even at ground level you will be around 700 impulse.

Eve:

-Atmosphere starts at about 80km

-Best to use a plane/glider with smaller wings here for getting to the ground. Use dihedral angled wings to keep your craft orientated properly.

-I have not tried jet engines, I have found the small .5T 50 thrust Liquid engines work very well here.

{Gilly:

-Bugged surface.

Jool:

-Air-breathing jets work in Jool's atmosphere

-When you "land" on Jool you are not actually on the "Surface" you have reached the point where the density is so high that the gases in the atmosphere become so thick that they are near solids, they game seems to freak out when calculating the density and this causes everything to break.

{Laythe:

-The gravity is similar to Kerbin's, maybe a little higher

-The atmosphere is about half that of kerbin's, maybe a little less, so using aircraft is very difficult unless they have huge wingspans and very large control surfaces.

-Air-breathing jets work

[Jason Patterson]

The atmosphere of Moho starts at just 27.8k, though as you mention it's very very thin. I had trouble with landing in the crater, as the air temperature was so high near the ground that my entire ship, except for the crew capsule, exploded due to the heat. Even the landing gear went.

For anyone who is interested, the ring of mountains surrounding the eye on Moho is roughly 10,000m above its sea level.

[wired2thenet]

Scott Manley had a video about the Duna burn, and I believe he said the math works out to about 50-degrees (could be wrong ... not in a position to hear his explanation at the moment).

I think he explains it in one of the parts of this series:

He also has a good Moho video here:

[untitled]

OP, I have edited my post to include derivations/work if you want to put that in the original post.

Also, you can use the

tags instead of "s

[Ziff]

I have a few hastily scribbled notes here. They're probably not accurate but close enough to give you a general idea of what you're facing.

Duna: Not only nice to visit, but you actually have a good chance of getting home again.

Atmospheric layers at 3k, 14k, and 26k.

Atmosphere is thin, so if you are using chutes you will need to add a few extra. Alternately you can just burn off the last bit of vertical velocity.

Gravity: 2.94

Eve: It's a nice place to visit, just don't land..

Atmospheric layers at 29k, 56k, 85k

Who needs a parachute? My 30ton craft slowed to around 75m/s during freefall due to the ridiculously thick atmosphere . That speed occurred around 3k, leaving me plenty of time to hit the engines and land perfectly. Probably one of the easiest landings I have ever had. It will take a specifically designed craft to achieve orbit again after landing. That thick lower atmospheric layer is 30km high and combined with a gravity of 16.68... I sense a new challenge!

Gravity: 16.68

Jool: Haha, don't be silly. You tried to land there?!

Atmospheric layers at 53k, 90k, 130k.

Gravity: I forgot to write it down but I think it's the same as Laythe? 7.85ish?

Laythe: I hope you practiced your precision landings, if you miss, you will have some wet Kerbals.

Atmospheric layers at 9k, 25k, 41k

Gravity: 7.85

Vall:

No Atmo.

Gravity: 2.3

Tylo:

No Atmo.

Gravity: 7.85

Bop: It has a pretty small SoI, so it's hard to get to. But it's so easy to land on and take off from, even a EVA Kerbal could do it.

No Atmo.

Gravity: 0.59

[A Fat Pokemon]

Thanks, getting some good info now

[maltesh]

Here's a spreadsheet I threw together based on information extracted from the game by Nadrek:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuySrGPsDeq2dFVpTkJUNTktT19xNFVOTTVuZE1ZQWc#gid=0

[Richy teh space man]

The info I've gathered so far on atmospheres:-

Moho

17k Edge

10k Outer

3k Middle

Eve

100k Edge

84k Outer

56k Middle

28k Inner

Duna

41k Edge

26.6k Outer

14.4 Middle

3.1 Inner

[Max Grant]

Yea I had my Kerbals step out on Eve. They took one step off the ladder, fell over, and wouldn't get up again. I sent a second Kerbal out after I ended flight on the first one, and he did the same thing.

Treacherous place.

[untitled]

Got into orbit around Jool

With a Hohmann transfer, launch about 96.5 degrees ahead of Jool.

T1/T2 = sqrt((2*65.5)^3/(13+65.5)^3)

T1/T2 = sqrt(0.22)

T1/T2 = 0.46

0.46*360 = 167 degrees

167/2 = 83.5 (Division by two for only half of the orbit)

180 - 83.5 = 96.5

Edited September 25, 2012 by untitled

[AncientAstronaut]

Kosmo-Not and I are currently the main contributors to the Duna page on the wiki. We added most of the information about its orbit and other gravitational characteristics.

--EDIT-- (to clarify)

So most of the information I can add about Duna is there.

[VincentLaw]

I got the following numbers for Laythe entry.

55200 m Edge of atmosphere

41000 m Upper atmosphere

24500 m Middle atmosphere

14000 m parachutes deploy

9000 m lower atmosphere

500 m parachutes fully open

0 m exactly sea level

Also, I can confirm atmospheric engines work. I advise using power to slow the decent before the parachutes deploy because they were frequently ripping off at high speed.

Edited September 24, 2012 by VincentLaw

[AlternNocturn]

For Duna, parachutes are recommended if you want to conserve fuel or make the landing a bit easier. Just make sure to attach them to decouplers so you can cut them off for a powered landing, since just like the real Mars, parachutes are only enough to slow you down from really high speeds but not slow enough to land. Just make sure to steer off to the side a little to avoid a collision with them.

Also, I'm thinking these bodies that have to same gravity of Kerbin is due to time restraints. Laythe does not appear big enough to have the same gravity as Kerbin, and I'm pretty sure a Gas giant won't have the same gravity as a smaller rocky body.

[Apotheosist]

I have taken both types of jet engines to Eve, fired them in the atmosphere, right clicked on them and they showed their efficiency, going up to 100% depending on altitude. The craft had four jet engines and had a theoretical thrust-to weight on Eve of more than 3. However, even though they were working at good efficiency and they were glowing and using up fuel, they did not produce any discernible thrust. I detached two outer tanks on my way down through the atmosphere, then turned on the jet engines, but the detatched tanks fell alongside the jet powered craft at the same velocity. Eventually I crashed into the surface.

Can you confirm that, although the jet engines appear to be working, they actually produce any thrust?

[Exclipse]

Jet engines "work" on any planet with atmosphere. From what I have found they only produce thrust on Kerbin though.

[dikkjo]

Can you confirm that, although the jet engines appear to be working, they actually produce any thrust?

I think that may be caused by the extremely dense atmosphere which induces much more drag losses.

I had a similar experience on Jool, my engines were not powerful enough to contrast the atmosphere, so instead of aerobreaking my way to Laythe i've got eaten by the giant.

[VincentLaw]

Jet engines "work" on any planet with atmosphere. From what I have found they only produce thrust on Kerbin though.

I can confirm that the jet engine was actually generating thrust on Laythe. From an orbit of 100 km, I decoupled a turbojet engine with retrorockets and a small fuel tank. The jet engine was tumbling slowly, so the change in velocity from the thrust was very obvious. Once it got low enough in the atmosphere, the speed oscillated several times between around 70 m/s when it was pointing up to 200 m/s when it was pointing down. If it had been piloted it would have been able to safely land with engine power alone.

Edited September 24, 2012 by VincentLaw

[MrAmazingfuntime]

My highly advanced space program has determined that Duna is sort of red-ish.

[NannerManCan]

Actually if you strap on a few of the big parachutes your craft will still land on duna with just parachutes. Mine landed at aout 10m/s so if I just added a few more I'm sure It wouldn't need a powered landing.

[RoboRay]

There's no need to cut your 'chutes away for Duna landings, even if you don't have enough to ensure a gentle landing... You can still fire your lander engine while hanging in the chutes. My lander was coming down a little to quickly for comfort, so I used the engine to slow my descent further to ensure a nice, soft touchdown. Keeping the chutes attached also holds the craft in a nose-up attitude and pretty much eliminates any lateral drift, which greatly simplifies the landing.

[A Fat Pokemon]

My highly advanced space program has determined that Duna is sort of red-ish.

Great observation!