Some info on Kerbals needed

[THobson]

How can I find out the delatV available from a Kerbal's EVA pack? Also what velocity of collision is fatal for a Kerbal? The reason I ask is that I have a ship orbiting Gilly at about 5km and an orbital velocity of about 20m/s. Judging by the shadow of the ship the surface comes very close at times and it is tempting to EVA down, but I am not sure if I can get back. I will of course try but some knowledge of what it takes to kill a Kerbal and what delatV they have in they EVA pack would be helpful.

Many thanks

Edited June 29, 2014 by THobson

[Dave Kerbin]

Unless it has changed in .23.5 (I don't think it has, they where going to use monopropellent but held back on that) then the pack has a delta-v of 600 m/s. You have plenty of delta-v to get off Gilly and board, it's just a matter of accurate piloting.

As for fatal collisions that's a harder question. It seems that it matters a lot the position and angle of the impact - for some reason Kerbals can survive some pretty bad impacts if they land on their head or at an angle. I think Scott Manley has some videos where he explores that question.

[R0cketC0der]

Kerbals have the highest impact tolerance when they land on their head. They can literally survive a fall from orbit like that.

[Epthelyn]

You can EVA to the surface of Gilly and back with fuel to spare; plenty of it in fact.

With regards to not killing them, I find it that it usually depends how fast they are moving downwards; horizontal velocity doesn't seem to be much of an issue to them because once they've survived the initial impact they're 'ragdoll'ed and effectively invincible and can just slow down by sliding for a while (on smaller bodies, especially Gilly and Bop, that sliding may go on for a very, very, very long time). Landing on their head at high speed doesn't appear to matter much to them either.

You shouldn't need to worry about that though. Once you've slowed down on Gilly it's more a matter of patience than actual dV

[THobson]

Many thanks for all the encouragement. Well I did it. I got down easy enough, planted a flag got a surface sample and then got back to the ship. I have turned display vessel names off so finding my ship was more than I had bargained for and the camera swinging about didn't help either so it was a relief to climb onboard eventually.

[kahlzun]

I think you're pretty safe as long as you don't impact faster than about 20ms, but as has been mentioned, if needed you can orbital hot-drop kerbals onto their head and 2 out of 5 times they'll live[citation needed]

[THobson]

Thanks. I actually landed so gently he didn't even fall over.

[Andrew Hansen]

I made a video about how to survive falling from high altitude falls. Basically, when on EVA, toggling the jetpack AND landing on a Kerbal's head are two ways to give you very good chances of surviving a fall from high altitudes (or from orbit).