Difference between revisions of "Moho"

Revision as of 05:22, 20 October 2012

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Moho is the innermost planet of the Kerbol star system. It is the smallest planet, although it is not the smallest celestial body. It is the only planet known to be tidally locked to Kerbol and the only planet with no natural satellites.

Due to its close proximity to Kerbol, the atmosphere, while thin, is debilitatingly hot. Rockets overheat easily, making a high thrust-to-weight ratio and/or a heat-resistant rocket design necessary for a safe landing.

Topography

The surface is very mountainous, with surprisingly few craters. The crust almost looks fractured. Up close it is much redder than in the map view and has many white dots.

Topographical image of Moho.

Atmosphere

Moho has a very thin, very hot atmosphere that poses a heat threat to most or all rocket motors. It extends to an altitude of approximately 27,640 m. Some aerobraking is possible, though the terrain makes this risky — even reaching an atmosphere as thin as 0.00001 atm (equivalent to 57.5 km altitude on Kerbin) requires flying at 12.5 km, below the height of Moho's tallest peaks.

Like all atmospheres in the game, Moho's atmosphere fades exponentially with increasing altitude (with a scale height of 2000 m). In general, the atmospheric pressure on Moho at an altitude expressed in meters is:^[1]

${\displaystyle p_{m}=0.005\ e^{-altitude/2000}}$

Orbital Statistics

Geosynchronous orbit around Moho is not possible — it would require an altitude of 0.00 m, outside of Moho's sphere of influence.

For a semisynchronous orbit of ½ Moho day (307.75 hours or 1,107,882 seconds) an orbit of 0.00 m above Moho is needed with a velocity of 0.00 m/s.

Reference Frames

Changes

0.17

• Initial Release

Notes

1. ↑ A nuclear engine has a specific impulse of 220 in 1 atm, 800 in vacuum, and the following at various Moho altitudes. (When descending into a Moho volcano, the altitude indicator begins to climb again after reaching 0, presumably representing negative numbers.)

   altitude (m)	-1237	-1015	-800	26	97	146	270	488	1042	1406	1994	2886	3865	4816	5655	8150
   specific impulse	794.5	795.1	795.6	797.1	797.2	797.3	797.5	797.7	798.3	798.6	798.9	799.3	799.6	799.7	799.8	800.0

v t e Kerbol System Kerbol Moho Eve Kerbin Duna Dres Jool Eeloo (The Sun)   Gilly Mun Minmus Ike   Laythe Vall Tylo Bop Pol