Is it really possible for Minmus to be made of ice?

[jfull]

Assuming that Minmus has an icy surface, would it really be possible for that to exist?

Icy moons are common in the outer solar system where sunlight is weak, but in Kerbin orbit, direct sunight would melt any ice. Without much gravity or any atmospheric pressure, the water would instantly boil off and probably be lost into space.

[TimePeriod]

It's a GAME. Its not realistic.

[Javster]

This a theoretical question.

[Aphox]

I always imagined Minmus just being a giant chunk of irradiated salt.

[Blackstar]

Two theories tend to float around:

1. Minmus is a recently captured (recent in cosmic terms) body from much further out, possibly a comet. Being closer to the sun is slowly causing it to melt/sublimate. In a few more hundred thousand years of exposure, it might disappear entirely into a cloud of gas.

2. The anomalous ice has something to do with the extremely high density seen in all stellar bodies in the Kerbin system.

Or it could not be ice at all -- I'm not 100% sure where that comes from. It's always looked like greenish sand and crystal to me.

[jfull]

It's a GAME. Its not realistic.

Quite obviously

Nowhere did I say that Minmus should be taken out of the game or changed at all.

I just meant to start some discussion about Minmus, possibly including some alternate explanations for its composition.

[Mr.Rocket]

i'm pretty sure Minmus is made out of delicious desserts, not just ice. Something like sherbert.

But really, it depends, kerbol isn't as big as a star as our sun, and so it may not have as intense heat. Anyone taken a surface temperature scan there?

[cfds]

It is not entirely impossible.

Take Earth and Moon as an example: The moons average temperature is well below freezing (220K at the equator) while the Earth's is just above freezing (288K). The difference is a result of the effects of albedo, atmosphere and radioactivity.

On the Moon temperatures rise up to 390K, enough to biol water at normal pressure, but Minmus with its high albedo and relatively fast rotation my actually stay below freezing at all times.

[Blackstar]

The career mode surface samples from Minmus indicate that it is unfortunately NOT a delicious dessert.

At least the surface.

But maybe dust from meteor impacts has settled at the top layer... we should dig deeper and see if there is delicious dessert just under the surface!

[SRV Ron]

Don't you know, it is made up of green cheese.

Actually, those seas could be salt flats from a long ago lost ocean.

[sal_vager]

Actually, I think when the devs were discussing planets and Minmus was brought up, HarvesteR was having a snack

[Aphox]

Actually, I think when the devs were discussing planets and Minmus was brought up, HarvesteR was having a snack

I guess mint icecream is way cooler than green salt. But where are Minmus' chocolate chips?

[sal_vager]

White chocolate boulders maybe?

[tygoo7]

I always though Minmus is made of Halite crystals mixed with copper.

[SuperBigD60]

I always though Minmus is made of Halite crystals mixed with copper.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Halite-207318.jpg

So you're saying it wouldn't taste very good?

[vat21s]

That's Exactly what his says

[Astronaut]

It's a GAME. Its not realistic.

But this game is aiming to be realistic.

[jfull]

I always though Minmus is made of Halite crystals mixed with copper.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Halite-207318.jpg

thats really really neat

Though, if it was made of a solid crystals, you might expect there to be actual impact craters on its surface. Minmus's lack of any craters is pretty strange regardless actually.

Also, that doesn't explain the flat lowlands that, admittedly, do look like the result of ice melting and re-freezing.

[Mr.Rocket]

I think we can all agree that Minmus is a n ice moon. Put the "n" wherever you think correct

But Halite and Copper would also be cool!

[SkyRender]

One of the earliest devblogs mentioning EVAs when they were first implemented referred to the flat sections of Minmus as "frozen methane lakes". That seems even less likely than water-ice, of course. "Methane ice" is a real thing (more properly known as methane clathrate), yet I have a hard time believing that entire lakebeds of it would form naturally on a planetoid.

[Brotoro]

Minmus is a Small Kerbol System Body that was captured early on by the planet Kerbin. It is composed primarily of water ice surrounding a core of unknown extremely dense matter. When Minmus was young, and its crust was still in a liquid state and before it lost its thin carbon dioxide atmosphere, a species of microorganism thrived in its oceans. This microorganism secreted copious quantities of lipids, hexahydrothymol, chlorophyll, and resins which remain in the crust of Minmus today.

This theory explains why Minmus can exist as close as it does to Kerbol: As the ice of Minmus's crust sublimes in the vacuum of space, the resin is left behind and forms a barrier to further sublimation. This theory would also explain why the crust of Minmus tastes like mint ice cream, and why it is such a popular destination for spacefaring kerbals who are running low on snacks.

[ArmchairGravy]

It's ice nine, and those returned samples pose a serious hazard.

[basrrf]

Minmus has to be a spearmint candy.

[SSSPutnik]

According to that great font, Wikipedia, the daytime temperature on Earth's moon reaches about 390K (120 deg C rounded).

That's not very hot.

Normal sugar melts at 160C (without addition of water). This isn't much warmer than Minmus would get.

I propose Minmus is composed of sugar, with some sort of green contaminant (probably crashed Kerbals).

The flat areas were formed when the moon partially melted during a Kerbol flare. (Or is possible grazing areas of the Kraken).

[KerbMav]

But maybe dust from meteor impacts has settled at the top layer... we should dig deeper and see if there is delicious dessert just under the surface!

The Kerbals dug too greedily and too deep ...

Minmus is a Small Kerbol System Body that was captured early on by the planet Kerbin. It is composed primarily of water ice surrounding a core of unknown extremely dense matter. When Minmus was young, and its crust was still in a liquid state and before it lost its thin carbon dioxide atmosphere, a species of microorganism thrived in its oceans. This microorganism secreted copious quantities of lipids, hexahydrothymol, chlorophyll, and resins which remain in the crust of Minmus today.

This theory explains why Minmus can exist as close as it does to Kerbol: As the ice of Minmus's crust sublimes in the vacuum of space, the resin is left behind and forms a barrier to further sublimation. This theory would also explain why the crust of Minmus tastes like mint ice cream, and why it is such a popular destination for spacefaring kerbals who are running low on snacks.

I actually vote to canonize this fine piece of pseudo-science!