Little Prince Planet from XKCD-What if?

[Triklyn]

Can you guys throw in the Little Prince Planetoid from the XKCD what-if?

http://what-if.xkcd.com/68/

super massive super tiny asteroid. surface gravity of 1 g.

i want to go into orbit around this thing if i sneeze wrong.

[tychochallenge]

then you're looking at a neutron-star type object, remember that if the earth is squished down to the size of a pea it will become a black hole and the 'rock' the Little Prince lives on has 1g of gravity so itll get pretty close. But imagine the potential this has for gravitational slingshots:P

[Kasuha]

It's already in game and it's called Kerbin.

[tychochallenge]

It's already in game and it's called Kerbin.

Then I'm not sure if you even heard of the novel "The Little Prince"

[Whirligig Girl]

He was joking. Anyway, I think B612 would be a really cool planet to add. it's SOI would be very small, so it could just be an easter egg orbiting Dres or something. Even though this wouldn't make sense in our universe, NovaSilisko (He MADE most of the Planets, so I think he has the authority here.) has stated that Kerbals are in an alternate universe, so it could happen. (I guess Kerbalverse is somewhere between UnivPrime and the Microverse.)

[Whirligig Girl]

then you're looking at a neutron-star type object, remember that if the earth is squished down to the size of a pea it will become a black hole and the 'rock' the Little Prince lives on has 1g of gravity so itll get pretty close. But imagine the potential this has for gravitational slingshots:P

It wouldn't. Orbital velocity around this rock would be about running speed.

[Stargate525]

then you're looking at a neutron-star type object, remember that if the earth is squished down to the size of a pea it will become a black hole and the 'rock' the Little Prince lives on has 1g of gravity so itll get pretty close. But imagine the potential this has for gravitational slingshots:P

Wouldn't come close. You're looking at far less mass than the earth, at a size of a kilometer or so.

If this is added, please for the love of all that's holy make it a moon; hitting an SOI change with a body this tiny at interplanetary distances would be nigh impossible.

[Kasuha]

Notice OP is asking for a body with 1 g of gravity. So the same mass as Earth. Its SOI would be pretty large since the size of SOI is calculated based on ratio of masses of the body and the body it is orbiting.

Of course he'll not go into orbit after sneezing. But for such things, there's Gilly.

Edit: okay, it wouldn't be the same mass as Earth ... just like Kerbin is not the same mass as Earth.

Edited June 6, 2014 by Kasuha

[Whirligig Girl]

No, if it had 1 g of gravity at the surface, rather than 1 g of gravity at the Kerbin or Earth radii, than it would not be the same mass.

G ASL is what's important for the SOI.

[Triklyn]

I am not a physicist, but I believe in Randall, and his article states that

"If the asteroid has a radius of 1.75 meters, then in order to have Earth-like gravity at the surface, it would need to have a mass of about 500 million tons. This is roughly equal to the combined mass of every human on Earth."

The sneezing part was more hyperbolic than literal... but not by much. randall says that you can go into orbit at sprinting speeds, so...

I would love for this to be in game, and I'm fairly confident that so would your more tech-inclined fans will appreciate the source.

The Venn-Diagram of people who play games, play kerbal space program and read XKCD I'm assuming is a pretty substantial set... even if only looking at NASA.

Randall already has a real asteroid, maybe he should get a kerbal one too.

[Kasuha]

The most crazy efects in such gravitational field come from the fact that gravity is pulling differently on different parts of your body. As far as I know, KSP does not simulate that, gravitational force is always applied on whole ship. So if such asteroid was added to the game, ships would just orbit it the same way they orbit Kerbin or Mun.

[technicalfool]

Randall already has a real asteroid, maybe he should get a kerbal one too.

Hah. Randall (or maybe Rándall), circling Eve in a retrograde orbit. If you aerobrake the wrong way around for Gilly, at least you can still hit this thing. And maybe find a black hat Easter egg or something else a little XKCD-influenced.

I like it.

[dryer_lint]

About that article, did anyone notice the title-text on the second to last image?

[Deathsoul097]

Notice OP is asking for a body with 1 g of gravity. So the same mass as Earth. Its SOI would be pretty large since the size of SOI is calculated based on ratio of masses of the body and the body it is orbiting.

Of course he'll not go into orbit after sneezing. But for such things, there's Gilly.

Edit: okay, it wouldn't be the same mass as Earth ... just like Kerbin is not the same mass as Earth.

Common misconception. If you had a planet with the same mass as earth, but with a considerably higher density, (So, smaller body) you would have significantly higher gravity ASL, but at earth Radii, you would have a similar amount of acceleration, IIRC.

[Whirligig Girl]

The most crazy efects in such gravitational field come from the fact that gravity is pulling differently on different parts of your body. As far as I know, KSP does not simulate that, gravitational force is always applied on whole ship. So if such asteroid was added to the game, ships would just orbit it the same way they orbit Kerbin or Mun.

Actually that's a myth. KSP will simulate it on individual parts unless you're timewarping.

[cantab]

When I was looting the spaceport before its closure, I came across a mention of a gravitating part plugin, that had been used to make a (pre-ARM) asteroids mod where the asteroids have gravity.

If that plugin is still available, it might be possible to mod the LPP in.

[Deathsoul097]

Actually that's a myth. KSP will simulate it on individual parts unless you're timewarping.

Nope, actually 100% true. KSP doesn't simulate orbits on single parts, only on vessel COMs.

[r4pt0r]

Nope, actually 100% true. KSP doesn't simulate orbits on single parts, only on vessel COMs.

somewhere on the forums here someone posted a video of a really long ship they built to test tidal locking and let it orbit with no sas or timewarp. it did acheive tidal lock.

[Deathsoul097]

somewhere on the forums here someone posted a video of a really long ship they built to test tidal locking and let it orbit with no sas or timewarp. it did acheive tidal lock.

Sorry to say, but "Pics or it didn't happen." I'm not trying t be mean, but unless you can prove it, I will go with what I know. You may be thinking of Principia, an indev mod that implements N-Body physics, which would do this. However, KSP's physics model only works with COM for orbital calculations, to my knowledge.

[Kasuha]

somewhere on the forums here someone posted a video of a really long ship they built to test tidal locking and let it orbit with no sas or timewarp. it did acheive tidal lock.

That's true but it consisted of three ships.

The orange fuel tanks are separate ships, I used 4x physics warp in game and after that I've speed up the video 30 times.

Sorry to say, but "Pics or it didn't happen." I'm not trying t be mean, but unless you can prove it, I will go with what I know. You may be thinking of Principia, an indev mod that implements N-Body physics, which would do this. However, KSP's physics model only works with COM for orbital calculations, to my knowledge.

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/79142-Gravity-gradient-stabilization

Edited June 8, 2014 by Kasuha

[r4pt0r]

That's true but it consisted of three ships.

thank you for finding it and clarifying. i searched from all my posts but i guess i just lurked that thread. i knew i saw it haha

[Triklyn]

The most crazy efects in such gravitational field come from the fact that gravity is pulling differently on different parts of your body. As far as I know, KSP does not simulate that, gravitational force is always applied on whole ship. So if such asteroid was added to the game, ships would just orbit it the same way they orbit Kerbin or Mun.

that is truly truly disappointing.