Difference between revisions of "Mun"

Revision as of 22:19, 22 June 2017 (view source) GregroxMun (talk | contribs) (Replace Mun with The Mun to match localization changes in 1.3, further elaborate on color point.) ← Older edit		Revision as of 22:21, 22 June 2017 (view source) GregroxMun (talk | contribs) (1.3 changes the name of the Mun to The Mun. (It previously had a UseTheInName tag to add "the" to some text lines)) Newer edit →
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	== Changes ==		== Changes ==
		+	;[[1.3]]
		+	* Changed displayName to The Mun, removed useTheInName feature.
	;[[1.2]]		;[[1.2]]
	* Added biomes.		* Added biomes.

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Revision as of 22:21, 22 June 2017

Mun, also known as the Mun and sometimes written as Mün, is a relatively large moon orbiting Kerbin. It can be thought of as an analogue to Earth's own moon, which frequently is simply called “the Moon” (Latin: Luna).

It is gray in appearance with craters of various sizes and mountains exceeding 5029 m in height. The gravitational pull on the surface is 1.63 m/s², approximately 1/6 and 8.18 m/s² lower than that of Kerbin and about the surface gravity of Earth's Moon (1.624 m/s²). It is possible to land on the Mun or use it for gravity assist (gravitational slingshots) to outer bodies such as Minmus or into Kerbol orbit, though such maneuvers do not save very much fuel and are more imprecise. It is, however, useful for plane changes with proper timing.

New players should note that Mun (like the majority of celestial bodies in the game) has no atmosphere. That means parachutes do not work when descending to the surface.

There are anomalous geological formations that can be found on the surface of the Mun.

Synchronous orbit around the Mun is not possible, since it would have to occur at an altitude of 2 970.58 km, beyond the Mun's sphere of influence. However, putting your spacecraft just outside Mun's SOI and having the same semi-major axis would make it appear stationary. A normal 25 km orbit can be achieved using around 800 m/s delta V. A semi-synchronous orbit with half the rotation period of the Mun is possible at approximately 1797.41 kilometers.

There is a tutorial about traveling to the Mun.

In-game Description

“

The Mun, is a large satellite orbiting Kerbin. It is mostly gray in appearance, with craters of various sizes dotting its otherwise smooth surface. The Mun’s discovery is widely regarded as one of the more important breakthroughs of Kerbal evolution. Granted, it didn’t happen all that long ago, but it’s still fair to say Kerbals are wiser and more evolved now than they were back then. — Kerbal Astronomical Society

”

Terrain

The Mun's terrain is rough, grey, and scarred by craters. Its low-lying areas tend to be darker in colour. The Mun also features canyons which can be hundreds of meters deep and a few kilometers long.

The Mun's highest points reach a maximum altitude of more than 7061 m near the south pole at 152.33° W and 82.52° S. This altitude permits 10× warp, allowing crashes with terrain while being in a seemingly stable orbit. Its lowest point, below -247 m, is on the northern hemisphere south-west of the large northern crater at 76.63° W and 35.32° N.

When terrain scatter is activated in the graphics settings, the Mun has rocks scattered on its surface. Like all terrain scatters, these rocks are strictly cosmetic and do not collide with ships or Kerbals.

As of 0.21 the Mun is peppered with procedural impact craters making Mun landing more difficult. Previously the lowest point with an altitude of 0 m was on the east side of a large crater, at 35.42° E, 8.27° N.

The Hell Kraken has been encountered on the Mun, with objects being thrown out of Kerbin's sphere of influence upon reloading the craft.

The Mun also has several hidden surprises for explorers to find:

Biomes

Before 0.90 the Mun was one of the few bodies with multiple biomes and has, with a total of 17, the most biomes of any celestial body. Each major crater is a distinct biome, which gives them somewhat official names; however, like all biome names, they are fairly generic. The Midlands and Highlands biomes each have a biome applied to any of the nameless large craters within them. The polar regions also have three different biomes. There are seven distinct craters and two basins.

Biome list

Mun In-game biome map as of 1.2

Poles Polar Lowlands Polar Crater Highlands Highland Craters Midlands Midland Craters Lowlands Northern Basin Farside Basin Northwest Crater East Farside Crater Canyons Farside Crater East Crater Twin Craters Southwest Crater

Observation from Kerbin

The Mun's orbit keeps it directly above Kerbin's equator. Because the Mun is tidally locked to Kerbin with a perfectly circular, non-inclined orbit, exactly 50% of the Mun's surface (excluding areas on the edge obscured by the Mun's mountains) is ever visible from Kerbin.

Due to the Mun's non-inclined orbit, solar eclipses occur every time the Mun goes between the Sun and Kerbin. Due to graphic engine limitations, these solar eclipses currently do not make the sky black, or darken the land. However, solar panels will become blocked by the Mun in an eclipse and become useless for a short period of time.

Although the game graphics depict Mun as totally covering the solar disk during an eclipse, based on the given diameters of Sun and Mun and their distances from Kerbin, Sun has a larger apparent size. For observers on and near Kerbin, solar eclipses would be annular.

Observation of Kerbin

Because Mun is tidally locked to Kerbin, Kerbin is only visible from 50% of the Mun's surface, and Kerbin never sets or rises as seen from the Mun. The Mun longitude for which Kerbin remains directly above in the sky (at the zenith) is about 47 degrees east. The Mun's equator is coplanar with Kerbin's, so any location on the Mun's equator that faces Kerbin will also face Kerbin's equator. Kerbin is not tidally locked to the Mun, so any point on the Mun where Kerbin is not obscured by the Mun's landscape will be able to observe every point on Kerbin as Kerbin rotates. Kerbin's synodic rotational period with the Mun is 25617.909 seconds, or 1.18323 Kerbin solar days.

Science

Although the science-multipliers of Mun's surface and orbit are quite low compared to that of other planets and moons, Mun is comparably easy to reach and has a very large number of biomes which all yield different science results. This makes it - together with Minmus - the main source of science points during the midgame.

Reference Frames

Time warp	Minimum Altitude
1×	Any
5×	5 000 m
10×	5 000 m
50×	10 000 m
100×	25 000 m
1 000×	50 000 m
10 000×	100 000 m
100 000×	200 000 m

Gallery

• 

  A full projection map of the Mun as of version 0.14.2 through 0.20.2

• 

  A topographic height map of the Mun made with the ISA MapSat plugin

• 

  A successful landing on the Mun with a two-kerbal capsule. This is often a milestone for new players.

• 

  A kerbal watching the sunrise on the moon.

• 

  A rover driving across a Mun crater in the night.

• 

  A solar eclipse caused by the Mun. The vehicle has run out of electric charge because the sun is blocked.

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  Four kerbals manning a Mun base

• 

  A vessel has just entered Munar orbit and is getting ready to initiate a landing.

• 

  A proud little probe recharges its batteries after landing on the Mun, prior to sending back precious science data.

• 

  A victorious landing party celebrates a safe trip with a Munar selfie.

• 

  A lander returns to orbit to dock with its mothership and offload crew and data.

Trivia

• After its implementation, many fans began calling the body Mün, pronounced the same as "moon", believing the original spelling to be a mistake. However, several of the game's developers have been heard referring to it as Mun, pronounced "muhn". In the "Surface of the Mün" title screen, a crashed lander resembling a Kerbal X has the words "Mün or Bust" scrawled on the side. Both spellings are generally accepted, however the spelling in-game is The Mun, despite the fact that planets can have non-english letters in them.
• Mun was Kerbin's, and indeed the game's, very first moon.
• Mun's orbit is perfectly circular and has zero orbital inclination. Such an orbit in reality would be very unlikely since this would require precise positioning of any dust/bodies that created it during the planetary system's formation, as well as the absence of a central star or other planets.
  • This was likely done to make it easier to reach for new players.
  • This also makes it an excellent guideline to use for placing satellites into exact inclinations around Kerbin. By setting Mun as target, the relative inclination described by the maneuver tool also represents the inclination of the satellite's orbit to Kerbin
• Prior to version 0.14.2, the tallest points on the munar surface were no higher than roughly 600m.
• Before introduction of procedural terrain the Mun's highest point was within 45° latitude of the equator, had an altitude of 2967 m and was located at 129.64° W, 0.97° N, on the north side of a canyon which was on the east edge of a large crater.
• Prior to version 0.14.3 a KSC could be found on the Mün.
• The Mun is considerably larger than 1/10 the size of the real world Moon.
• The Mun is one of the few bodies in the solar system that is almost completely manually colored (i.e., it uses a color map). Most other planets and moons are colored procedurally or with a lot of procedural colors doing the work. The only procedural colors on the Mun are associated with the procedural craters and a basic noise. The other planets which are manually colored are Tylo (Aside from a tenuous coat of height color map) and Jool (As a gas giant, it must be manually colored)

Changes

1.3

• Changed displayName to The Mun, removed useTheInName feature.

1.2

• Added biomes.

0.21

• New Procedurally generated craters.

0.20.1

• Height values reverted

0.20

• Terrain overhaul

0.18

• Easter Eggs added (one fixed, one added)
• New small art pass.

0.17

• Texture Improvements

0.16

• Easter Eggs added

0.15

• Texture Improvements

0.14.3

• Removed KSC on it.(don't ask)

0.14.2

• Terrain overhaul

0.12

• Initial Release

Notes

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