How many G's can a Kerbal survive?

[Rocket Farmer]

So I only started playing with the release of 2.0 and was wondering at a kerbal can expire from G's alone in their capsules?

The reason I ask is I just completed my first interplanetary flight. It was a flight with landing, flagging, driving a rover around Eeloo and returning to kerbin. Now I only am playing stock (not even mechjb) so my return trajectory wasn't ideal (read I came into Kerbin super hot with 5km/s relative velocity from a high elliptical orbit from 120 billion m out).

Being this was my first real attempt at atmosphere braking I picked a peraposis of 20,000m. It turns out that was a little deep and I had a premature landing.

While this was fine as I was planning on landing eventually anyways and I didn't want to overshoot it however it did subject my poor Meatball (kerbal) to 14.5 G's for a fair period of time.

Now the scale on the right goes into the red at about 12 G's and caps out at 15. So I guess my question is can you go beyond 15 G's with a kerbal and have him survive?

[Epthelyn]

The maximum G's a Kerbal can survive is ∞. Really, it is. Once you have one part on a ship (whether it be a capsule or an EVA'd Kerbal), that bar is pretty much meaningless and will remain so under it is made otherwise by Squad. In the meantime, enjoy 8km/s dives into Kerbin's atmosphere at 90* to the surface and see how many G's you can achieve.

[acealeam]

The only thing the G's do is break apart your ship. Your kerbals are safe. I mean, they'll be stranded, but still safe.

[NeoMorph]

I wonder if the devs will ever add in g limits and things like the crew mod. I know they said they didn't want to make it too hard but by making it about half as hard as real life should be enough...

[Ford_Prefect]

You should know by now that Kerbals survive everything (except for 'splosions).

[AmpsterMan]

This does bring to mind a question though, how much WOULD a Kerbal be able to survive if g forces were modeled

[Keenan Smith]

I wonder if the devs will ever add in g limits and things like the crew mod. I know they said they didn't want to make it too hard but by making it about half as hard as real life should be enough...

Hey Neo you flew my micro shuttle mission perfectly only to mess it up on the last bit of landing...

Well Done.. I like it ..

and FYI Max G was 8G

[Rocket Farmer]

So even if I leave kerbal orbit in reverse (to the west) and burn for eve and intersect it head on at 90 degrees with a full prograde burn the kerbal will survive the deceleration? Hmmm, this might require a test. I can probably hit 25km/s relative to we doing that.

[Pontiac]

I sense a "Infinite fuel, 30 mainsails, kerbal on a chair..." situation brewing here.....

[DisarmingBaton5]

How many Gs can a Kerbal survive?

A lot.

[Ralathon]

This does bring to mind a question though, how much WOULD a Kerbal be able to survive if g forces were modeled

Considering that they're quite small they should be capable of handling a lot more than humans. Less internal distance means the pressure differentials will be smaller and thus easier to deal with for the heart.

[AustralianFries]

I made a video where I flew a powerless-infiniglider across the ocean and landed on the next continent. It is flown by basically just going up and down a bunch of times to pick up speed. The thing is, every time you lift up, the G meter maxes out (15+)

A lot.

[Merinsan]

I wonder if the devs will ever add in g limits and things like the crew mod. I know they said they didn't want to make it too hard but by making it about half as hard as real life should be enough...

I don't want to see them die from excessive Gs, but I'd love to see them "loose their lunch" (or should that be snacks), all over the camera view you have of them in the external flight screen. I think it would lead to a number of interesting challenges if it was also a tracked stat.

IE most resilient Kerbal.

Most "episodes" on a single launch.

Least "episodes" on a single launch.

etc.

[NovaSilisko]

I think G limits will be added at some point, but they'll probably be pretty high compared to humans. I think kerbals are pretty squishy creatures, and could easily withstand 5-10g for prolonged periods, but beyond 15 damage can be done.

[FlamedSteak]

Will it matter if re-entry mechanics are properly modelled?

Some of my rentries.....let's say 90% of them are utterly suicidal. One of them was so fast my cutes couldn't decelerate me in time.

[Echostatic]

I have to wonder what happened to my Kerbals on one mission then... It was a while ago, I can't remember if I was trying to land on Laythe or what, but after the chutes deployed, I lost all control of the craft. No controls would do anything. After ending the flight, I saw in the events box that my Kerbals had simply been killed. I quickloaded and tried again, and when the chutes deployed, the portraits in the lower right corner vanished, due to them dying. I assumed it was the extreme Gs, as the gauge maxxed out when the chutes deployed.

[Merinsan]

I have to wonder what happened to my Kerbals on one mission then... It was a while ago, I can't remember if I was trying to land on Laythe or what, but after the chutes deployed, I lost all control of the craft. No controls would do anything. After ending the flight, I saw in the events box that my Kerbals had simply been killed. I quickloaded and tried again, and when the chutes deployed, the portraits in the lower right corner vanished, due to them dying. I assumed it was the extreme Gs, as the gauge maxxed out when the chutes deployed.

I have seen that happen occasionally. I've never worked out why though. I've managed to fly craft straight down to Kerbin from interplanetary trajectories without killing Kerbals, so I know they can handle it. In one case I had 1 of my Kerbals die in a 3 man pod, while the other 2 survived.

[Tortoise]

Well when it gets added, it'll be high.

The astronauts wear G-SUITS.

[Meraco]

Looking at the gauge itself there is a "red" zone which seems to begin around 10g. could this be a prelude to a maximum survivable G in a future release?

As such I strive to limit the G load of re-entry so it does not enter the red zone. A sort of self imposed limit with the notion that the red zone would kill the kerbals.

And so I usually re-enter at about a 3 - 4 G.

For kicks I once tried the Mechjeb landing guidance from a 300km orbit. and the max G was 7.7,, a little hot for my liking but still under the red zone. thus in my mind.. survivable.

[FlamedSteak]

I've had my command module break loose from the lander due to the negative G's pushing it into the structure below. Thankfully the weight of it kept it in place till it landed, but it took me a while to figure out why I had lost control of the engines. My kerbals were survived the ordeal, so I'm not really sure if I have a point here.

[el_coyoto]

I really like the idea of kerbals being more biologically suited to space than humans.

It fits nicely with the theme of the game and permits fun and refreshing re-entries.

Okay, I guess I played Orbiter for too long, because executing "fun" re-entries in KSP still make me chuckle every time...

[LeonG17]

Its as if the entire species is designed to explore space....

As for the amount of G, likely as much as you can exert on them.

[Rozza_15]

I thin we should not try out this test as to the amount of G-force Kerbals can survive, lest we get taken to the Inter-Kerbal Krimes Kourt on Kerbin to with with aliens purposely slaughtering thousand of Kerbalnauts for "science". After all, the Kourt might rule we would have to take part in the tests.

[KrazyKrl]

I sense a "Infinite fuel, 30 mainsails, kerbal on a chair..." situation brewing here.....

Edited June 20, 2013 by KrazyKrl