Would Laythe be capable of sustaining Kerbal (or human) life?

[Burke112]

In the current version of KSP, Laythe appears relatively Earth-like -- it has many characteristics that would allow life to flourish.

Laythe's atmosphere at sea level is 80% that of Earth or Kerbin (0.8 atm). This places the air pressure equivalent to that which is found at about a 7,000 foot altitude on Earth. This is well below the 8,000 foot altitude where the first, relatively small, symptoms of altitude sickness begin, and is well below the altitude where HAPE becomes a concern. In fact, most airliners are pressurized to 7,000 feet, so any base on Laythe that was around sea level would expose its occupants to an air pressure similar to that experienced on a jetliner. In short, Laythe's atmosphere is dense enough that Kerbonauts at a sea-level base would be perfectly able to breathe -- the only negative effects would be a slightly lower endurance due to the thinner air, which would itself be offset by Laythe's lower gravity (55% of Kerbin's) making exertion less difficult.

Laythe also has liquid seas. These seas apparently have some ionic compound in them, but it would appear that any base with desalination equipment would have access to a huge supply of fresh water. Furthermore, the water is in a liquid state, making it much easier to access than if it was frozen.

Because of Jool and the other moons around Laythe, as well as Laythe's relatively thick atmosphere, asteroid impacts would be a relatively small concern, as any incoming asteroids or comets would most likely impact one of the other Joolian bodies, much as the moon currently protects Earth from asteroid impacts. Also, it appears that Laythe is far enough from Jool so that it would not be ripped apart by the planet's gravity, nor would it experience massive vulcanism.

The only difficulties that would be found with supporting life on Laythe, it appears, would be the temperature and solar radiance, both of which would be lower due to Laythe's distance from Kerbol. Purely for roleplaying purposes, does anyone know exactly how hospitable Laythe would be for supporting life, and how much the lower temperature and solar radiance would affect photosynthesis?

[Geschosskopf]

If Jool has anything like the magnetic field that our Jupiter has, then I doubt life as we know it could exist anywhere near the surface.

[DChurchill]

Dunno for how much longer. Supposedly volcanism and radiation are in Laythe's future.

[OrbitusII]

Mekan1k and I talked about this once, and we figured out that if you could find some way to resist the radiation from the belt then all you would need during Laythe's days is a winter coat (4* C is kinda cold). So, in a word, maybe.

[Moon Goddess]

Nova has stated the water is full of ammonia that's why it's not frozen. Simple distillation methods are not good at removing ammonia but there are methods.

Nova has also said the amount of radiation coming from Jool at Laythe will be deadly but a sheilded bases should be survivable as long as you limit your outside time

The planet is also planned to have massive volcanic activity. This will release a lot of toxins into the atmosphere, this may be creating a greenhouse effect that is keeping the planet as warm as it is but will make the air unbreatable without filtration.

All in all I think it would be a very good spot for a base. You can't go outside anymore than you can on Mun but the resources for in situ utilization are much better.

[Richy teh space man]

As it is now, yeah it would be survivable.

Like others have mentioned though, radiation and volcanoes are on the things that may be there in it's future.

[MrTaxman]

Radiation, poisonous environment, water is undrinkable, etc -- sounds like a great place for a summer home research base!

[Tiron]

Nova has stated the water is full of ammonia that's why it's not frozen. Simple distillation methods are not good at removing ammonia but there are methods.

Nova has also said the amount of radiation coming from Jool at Laythe will be deadly but a sheilded bases should be survivable as long as you limit your outside time

The planet is also planned to have massive volcanic activity. This will release a lot of toxins into the atmosphere, this may be creating a greenhouse effect that is keeping the planet as warm as it is but will make the air unbreatable without filtration.

All in all I think it would be a very good spot for a base. You can't go outside anymore than you can on Mun but the resources for in situ utilization are much better.

There's also the question of where all that free oxygen came from. Oxygen's so reactive that it's generally locked up in oxides. On Earth, it was freed and released into the atmosphere by...Plants. It caused a hell of a problem for awhile, because Oxygen is quite corrosive and somewhat toxic (Which is one of the reasons you can't use normal air to dive past a certain depth in the ocean.)

The presence of oxygen in the atmosphere suggests some form of life that's releasing it as a metabolic byproduct. Something like algae in the oceans, most likely, given there's nothing visible on the surface (and it'd get killed by the radiation most likely anyway).

But either way, there's probably SOMETHING in the water...

[Scotius]

I hope SQUAD will show mercy for your favourite moon Laythe is wonderful as it is now - turning it into irradiated, toxic wasteland ripped apart by volcanic eruptions would be a sad and awful event.

[oberlerchner123]

As much as I like the current Laythe, I think putting more details on all the planets, like volcanos on Laythe would be pretty cool.

Radiation I don't know. If that's just the excuse why Kerbals stay in their EVA suits, fair enough.

If it means I can't put Kerbals on EVA there anymore, that'd be pretty annoying.

[sporkafife]

Yeah, I imagine that Jool would have a pretty mean magnetic field that traps a lot of highly charged particles. But is it possible that Laythe can counteract this with it's own magnetic field? I'm not sure what sort of effect that would have, but the crazy interaction of the two magnetic fields might make life on Laythe feasible.

[Brotoro]

Depends on how the devs decide to handle it.

Does the diminutive gassy planet Jool have a radiation belt? And if so, is it as powerful as gigantic Jupiter's, or is it much less powerful like our other Jovian planets? Or even less powerful, as befits its size? Also, unlike the Galilean moons around Jupiter, Laythe has a substantial atmosphere that would block some of the radiation from reaching the surface. And if Laythe had a strong magnetic field of its own, it could easily block even more of any high energy particles that might be trapped around Jool.

How much oxygen is in Layhe's atmosphere (apparently a similar amount to what's in Kerbin's atmosphere, since our jet engines work mine unmodified)? And what other gasses make up Laythe's atmosphere in what percentages? If it contained high levels of carbon dioxide, it could stll kill you even if it had plenty of oxygen. But what's important is how the mix compares to what kerbals are used to (which depends on what's in Kerbin's atmosphere) and how tolerant they are of other gasses. Since Laythe has an ocean (and quite likely photosynthetic life in its oceans), it's quite possible that carbon dioxide levels have been reduced to low percentages.

Volcanism could be a problem depending on what level it occurs. If not too frequent, volcanic eruptions could add to the excitement of the place...but you may want to live far from the coasts if Laythe's crust is such that volcanic activity will spawn large tidal waves.

Regarding tides: Because of the small distances in the Joolian moon system, passings by Vall and Tylo should raise enormous tides, much larger than seen on Earth, so you probably wouldn't want to live close to the seashore anyway. Jool itself is not going to cause gigantic shifting tides in the ocean levels because Laythe is tidally locked to Jool so those tidal bulges are fixed in place.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Brotoro

[Mr. Rogue Ace]

Nova has stated the water is full of ammonia that's why it's not frozen. Simple distillation methods are not good at removing ammonia but there are methods.

Nova has also said the amount of radiation coming from Jool at Laythe will be deadly but a sheilded bases should be survivable as long as you limit your outside time

The planet is also planned to have massive volcanic activity. This will release a lot of toxins into the atmosphere, this may be creating a greenhouse effect that is keeping the planet as warm as it is but will make the air unbreatable without filtration.

All in all I think it would be a very good spot for a base. You can't go outside anymore than you can on Mun but the resources for in situ utilization are much better.

Without the lore involved, it looks like a nice vacation area!

I sent Jeb there

[stargazer1235]

Laythe could possible handle some life, but it wouldn't be any better then colonozing Mars. Laythe most likely has its own magnetic field or the atmosphere would have deterioated but the radiation from Jool would still seep in. I guess kerbals or humans might be able to live inside dome cities and by the way we are all basing this on humans, what if kerbals have a higher tolorence to radiation and the water on Laythe.

[Kerbol Prime]

Kerbals probably could survive (they are green and are obviously tolerant to radiation) but humans no.

[Ralathon]

The main issue seems to be radiation, and that is really easily solved. Water is an excellent radiation shield, even a few decimeters are enough to almost completely negate any radiation you trow at it. So all the kerbals have to do is sink their base in the ocean. Doesn't have to be deep or anything, half a meter should be more than enough. They can get oxygen from the atmosphere. Rocketfuel and drinking water from the ocean. All they would need in terms of supplies is food. It would be an excellent location for an off world colony.

[Tommygun]

I hope SQUAD will show mercy for your favourite moon Laythe is wonderful as it is now - turning it into irradiated, toxic wasteland ripped apart by volcanic eruptions would be a sad and awful event.

I can sympathize with this, my first reaction to changing Laythe is no, but it would be better in the long run to try and keep the planets and moons reasonably real.

It might be better to add a new planet, a little closer or further out from the sun than Kerbin, to make into a living world.

[KerbMav]

As they are "breaking the saves" anyway - but I dont think they will hurry to introduce new planets/moons now when already in QA ... or will they ...

[joppiesaus]

The water isn't really water. What did you expect at 72 milion km appoapasis around the sun? Way to cold.

[Ralathon]

The water isn't really water. What did you expect at 72 milion km appoapasis around the sun? Way to cold.

The sun isn't the only source of heat you know. Tidal friction is a thing. Besides, people have landed thermometers on Laythe and the ocean is only a few degrees below 0 Celcius. So it is most likely salt water.

[jwenting]

a large gas giant actually has a pretty decent thermal flux, some are so close to being stars they're actually radiating like mad in UV and IR (Jupiter is one, it's a protostar, were it a few percent more massive we'd be living in a binary system).

[Fractal_UK]

a large gas giant actually has a pretty decent thermal flux, some are so close to being stars they're actually radiating like mad in UV and IR (Jupiter is one, it's a protostar, were it a few percent more massive we'd be living in a binary system).

The definition is hazy but currently the limit for something to be considered as a brown dwarf is 13 jupiter masses, which is the approximate onset of deuterium fusion. The limit for a fully fledged star is more like 80 Jupiter masses. Gas giants much larger than Jupiter have been discovered, Jupiter may be large but it is not even close to representing any kind of upper limit for planets of its type.

[Moon Goddess]

The definition is hazy but currently the limit for something to be considered as a brown dwarf is 13 jupiter masses, which is the approximate onset of deuterium fusion. The limit for a fully fledged star is more like 80 Jupiter masses. Gas giants much larger than Jupiter have been discovered, Jupiter may be large but it is not even close to representing any kind of upper limit for planets of its type.

8000% is a few percent

[NERVAfan]

As for algae creating the oxygen: could still be possible even with radiation, depending on how intense the radiation is. There are Earth microbes that can survive really intense radiation.

The sun isn't the only source of heat you know. Tidal friction is a thing.

And maybe Laythe has a super greenhouse effect atmosphere, rich in methane ... and maybe it has sulfur hexafluoride (supposedly 16000 times stronger than CO2 as a greenhouse gas) or something.

[Tw1]

I imagined the volcanism to be more like that you find in island chains here on Earth, and not a major impediment to living there.

The cold, and radiation would be the impediments.