Anomalous forces around the "Moholes"

[Temstar]

So I decided to land a rover on Moho to investigate one of the "Moholes".

82km of rough driving later, I arrived at the north pole Mohole. As I drove the rover in for a closer I suddenly find myself being pulled into the hole by unusual gravity acceleration that seems to come from within the hole:

OH GOD I CAN SEE FOREVER

So I reloaded a quick save and took a drive around the hole and took measurements with my onboard instruments. It seems like this abnormal gravity is fairly localised and is only noticeable very close to the lip of the hole. But the closer you get to the edge the stronger the pull becomes. So much so that if I drove with in several meters of the hole I cannot prevent the rover from being sucked in regardless of usage of braking + driving backwards / parking sideways. Negative Gravioli Detector reading also reveals abnormal values for Moho:

2.59m/s^2 is slight different from the 2.58m/s^2 elsewhere on Moho, but that 0.01m/s^2 surely isn't enough to be able to suck a rover in. To be able to pull a rover in over flat surface, the force must originate somewhere close to the surface level rather than at the bottom of the hole, but watch what happens when I drive over the edge:

If there is some kind of gravity singularity in the hole near the surface pulling the rover in, then the fall of the rover should also be retarded by the force. Here we see normal increase of gravity as we go down. So whatever this force is, it for some reason is selective - it pulls objects horizontally into the hole yet does not prevent objects from slowing as they fall into the hole. The force also seems to be undetectable despite it's strength. I therefore must conclude that this anomalous attractive forces is not gravitational in nature and must in fact be new physics!

TLDR: don't get too close to the Moholes, for here be Krakens

Oh by the way, if you're wondering, the north pole Mohole is about 5600m deep. The surface above is about 5800m and the bottom of the hole seems to be 200m.

[SciMan]

Do you have an accelerometer on that rover? if so, posting readings for both the accelerometer and the Negative Gravioli Detector vs altitude reading would most likely help out a lot with figuring this mystery out.

After all, having large amounts of relevant data and adhering to the Scientific Method are two major parts of what makes good science "good science", instead of just another "crackpot theory" without any evidence to back it up!

Edit: actually, I might have to investigate this myself, because having 2 people get the same result from the same experiment is better than any number of experiments performed by just one person.

[Temstar]

I do have an accelerometer, here are the readings:

Rover at rest:

Rover being sucked into the hole. Note that the brakes are on, the rover is actually accelerating into the hole yet the accelerometer doesn't seem to pick up anything.

Rover at the moment when it went over the edge:

[Railsmith]

Strange. Very strange. Of course, we have to consider that the change in altitude as you descend into the hole would naturally increase the gravity (because you are at a lower altitude, and in KSP lower altitude always = higher gravity.) I'd reckon that this is a phantom physics force of some sort acting on your unlucky rover.

Very strange! Between this and the "ghosts" on Moho, I know where my next interplanetary exploration mission will be going.

[Tw1]

"Ghosts" on Moho?

[Deadpangod3]

"Ghosts" on Moho?

Time to send Jeb to Moho

[Kerbface]

How can it be gravitational forces pulling you in? You were pulled up a hill. I doubt it has anything to do with gravity. Must be some sort of untouchable, invisible magnet.

[Temstar]

Maybe...

[Deadpangod3]

Maybe it's the krakens house... If there's a ship to attack at the other pole, he can go straight through to the other side and attack it o.o FILL IT IN! Or cover it, or something!

Edit: o.o ^^

[Kerbface]

Hm... that picture... maybe it is some giant mysterious life form that goes all the way through the planet.

[SciMan]

Curiouser and Curiouser..... I can certainly say I didn't expect that result!

Needless to say, the next transfer window to Moho on my save just got filled

[Pedonymous]

Strange. Very strange. Of course, we have to consider that the change in altitude as you descend into the hole would naturally increase the gravity (because you are at a lower altitude, and in KSP lower altitude always = higher gravity.) I'd reckon that this is a phantom physics force of some sort acting on your unlucky rover.

Very strange! Between this and the "ghosts" on Moho, I know where my next interplanetary exploration mission will be going.

Explain further

[Scotius]

Yes, explain. What "ghosts"? I know many sorts of outlandish urban legends circulating among the kerbonauts, from the cadavers of giant cephalopods to crashed alien ships. But it is first time i hear about ghosts on Moho.

[sadron]

That's some freaky stuff right there. Moho must have been hit with Red Matter or something and is slowly being sucked apart.

[Deadpangod3]

Maybe there's a very microscopic black hole in Moho, so microscopic that it'd take 5000000 years to suck it all in

[Pedonymous]

It might be interesting to make a hanging "wall base" with the SQUID paramagnetic parts.

[Deadpangod3]

I really wanna try and cover that hole now... Hurry up and end school, I've got interplanetary holes to cover

[Pedonymous]

I really wanna try and cover that hole now... Hurry up and end school, I've got interplanetary holes to cover

Try to use that huge runway part as a gangplank, haha

[Deadpangod3]

Try to use that huge runway part as a gangplank, haha

Huge runway part?

[The Jedi Master]

Screw my plans for the Mun rover, time to head to Moho! *has never successfully landed on another planet before*

[Pedonymous]

Huge runway part?

http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/hl-portable-runways-and-landing-pads/

[Blackstar]

Since neither gravitation nor acceleration seem to register on the instruments, most likely it's some sort of localized warping of space itself.

Legend has it that the Kraken makes its lair in a pocket of space folded in on itself, almost impossible to enter without being ripped to shreds by conflicting forces.

[Tw1]

Except that black holes don't actually suck....

Though it would make sense for the kracken to create that kind of environment for itself. Think about what is known about the kraken:

1. It is invisible while alive. This means it must be able to distort space so light rays pass around it.

2. It attacks foreign objects (spacecraft) by influencing them with strange forces. Gravity tentacles?

That's about it. Maybe we'll find another dead kraken if the Shaft becomes volcanically active....

Edited May 1, 2013 by Tw1

[Kerbface]

i'm telling you, it's an invisible bioelectromagnet from a giant space worm going through the core of the apple that is Moho.

[Pedonymous]

i'm telling you, it's an invisible bioelectromagnet from a giant space worm going through the core of the apple that is Moho.

I'd like to see David Attenborough do a nature documentary on THAT