What are the limits of the Kerbal body?

[Souper]

How hard can they be hit?

How much heat can they withstand?

Radiation?

Electricity?

And lastly, do they require food, water, or oxygen at all?

Another E-cookie to the winner.

[Whirligig Girl]

10 m/s is the highest speed I've had a Kerbal survive.

[TheDarkStar]

Their heads/helmets seem to be made out of something much harder than the rest of them, though. In older versions (and I think in the current one too), Kerbals are much more likely to bounce if they hit something on their head.

[Dominatus]

That's because Kerbals are made of a living-synthetic rubber. Or their bones are, anyways. The Kerbals themselves are made of gas, lungs, and a heart-like organ that pumps oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other gases to the fleshy plantlike membrane that covers their soft absence of anything internal. That's why they go poof when they die- the skin ruptures. As for food, well, they photosynthesis. Water? Internal recycling cycle makes water obsolete- a Kerbal survives on its own fluids for its entire lifetime.

[Souper]

I considered Dominatus's theory for a while, but......no. Such a biologic system needs solids and water inside them. E-cookie goes to TheDarkStar.

[TheDarkStar]

I considered Dominatus's theory for a while, but......no. Such a biologic system needs solids and water inside them. E-cookie goes to TheDarkStar.

Yay, I have a cookie!

Also, they seem to be able to withstand the temperatures from reentry just fine, but have trouble with mainsail exhaust, suggesting that they have a very heat-resistant skin, but enough heat will fry them. They are also impact resistant and can't be squished without breaking. These things suggest an exoskeleton made of metal, a layer of something that is a bad conductor, and an interior that is very fragile and pressurized (hence them exploding upon rupturing).

[Winter Man]

That's because Kerbals are made of a living-synthetic rubber.

I wouldn't be so sure. See that puff when they hit the ground? I reckon they're more like teflon bonded ceramic.

[kahlzun]

They seem to be immune to radiation: they mention it several times, so they're aware it exists, but there is no mention in any Kerbal stuff of anyone having any negative effects from exposure ('glowing' is the most negative one, and they seem to regard it as a positive outcome)

[Dominatus]

Of course it's a positive outcome! We all appreciate a glowing complexion, no?

[cziken20]

They also seem electric-resistant, they can touch solar panels, batteries, radio-thermal generators, and other electric things with being damaged, their exoskeleton must be completely non-conductive. Also they don't care about fainting from Gee froce-they only die, so it seems they blood pumping must work in much other way than ours, they also must have very light-weight heads, else why they wouldn't fall down with such big heads?

[m00f]

Also, they seem to be able to withstand the temperatures from reentry just fine, but have trouble with mainsail exhaust, suggesting that they have a very heat-resistant skin, but enough heat will fry them.

How do we know that the material the mainsail's nozzle is made from, does not contain a highly volatile chemical, which reacts only with rocket feul, and is highly corrosive to the kerbals skin?

[tetryds]

Considering the fact that they don't require any form of food or oxigen to live, I presume that their bodies (inc. EVA suit) consists on an entire closed-cycle system, or maybe some form of nuclear reaction, which would explain the poof at death.

[gutza1]

This is in the SCIENCE forum, not the roleplay forum. This is to talk about how kerbals are supposed to be like at version 1.0, not how they are now. My theory is: They need life support(not currently implemented) like any other creature, their heads are more resistant to impact than humans but not ridiculously so(any examples otherwise are a bug. also their necks should have snapped when hitting the ground at terminal velocity), and they have the same temperature tolerances as humans(reentry heat is not yet implemented), and that they are genderless(that's what the devs said). My point is that people should not make important assumptions based off of not-yet-implemented features, and instead stick to REAL science.