Difference between revisions of "Kerbin"

Revision as of 17:38, 27 May 2013

Kerbin/Data

Kerbin is the home planet of the Kerbals, the location of the Space Center, and the main focus of Kerbal Space Program. It is the Earth analog for the game. It has two moons, named Mün and Minmus.

Kerbin is the third planet in orbit around the star Kerbol. It is the third largest planet (after Jool and Eve) and the fourth largest celestial object around Kerbol (with Tylo, a moon of Jool, being slightly larger).

Reaching a stable orbit around Kerbin is one of the first milestones a player might achieve in the game. Achieving such an orbit with a fuel-optimal ascent^[1] requires a delta-V of ≈4500 m/s,^[2] the second largest of all celestial bodies with a solid surface after Eve. For many interplanetary missions, this represents over half of the flight's total delta-V requirement. This is also true of Earth-based interplanetary spaceflights, leading one observer to remark that:

Topography

Topographical representation of Kerbin's surface as of .18.2. Click for high resolution. by Zeroignite

Kerbin has a roughly equal distribution of surface liquid water and solid land, with polar icecaps and scattered deserts. There are mountains exceeding 4 km in height, with the tallest peak being just under 4044 m in altitude.

Kerbin shows signs of having been impacted by an asteroid or comet. That is visible in the large crater in the western hemisphere. The crater's central peak is visible from orbit and was caused by the compression followed by the rebound of material in the center of the crater.

Atmosphere

Kerbin's atmosphere contains oxygen and extends to roughly 69,078 meters. Its atmosphere becomes exponentially less dense as altitude increases (with a scale height of 5 km).^[3] In general, the atmospheric pressure on Kerbin, at an altitude expressed in meters, is:

${\displaystyle p_{k}=e^{-altitude/5000}}$

The thickness of Kerbin's atmosphere makes it suitable for aerobraking and using parachutes, useful for saving on fuel when spacecraft return to Kerbin. Note that debris is not affected by air resistance above approximately 10 km, so spent stages may continue in a stable orbit even if they are going through thick atmosphere that would stop an active craft (0.19). Crafts will experience re entry and supersonic air effects as of 0.19. This however will not damage or burn it.

The following table gives approximation of terminal velocities at different Kerbin altitudes. These are also the velocities at which a ship should travel for a fuel-optimal ascent from Kerbin, given the game's model of atmospheric drag (0.18.1).^[4]

Orbits

Geosynchronous orbit is achieved at an altitude of 0.00 m and a speed of Expression error: Unexpected < operator. m/s. From a 70 km low equatorial orbit, the periapsis maneuver requires 676.5 m/s and the apoapsis maneuver requires 434.9 m/s. A semi-synchronous orbit with an orbital period of 1/2 of Kerbin's rotation period (3 hours or 10800 seconds) is achieved at an altitude of 0.00 m with an orbital velocity of Expression error: Unexpected < operator. m/s.

The Hill Sphere (the radius around the planet at which moons are gravitationally stable) of Kerbin is 136 185km, or roughly 227 Kerbin radii.

Interplanetary Travel

From the lowest stable orbit around Kerbin (70 km), the amount of delta-V needed to reach the orbits of other celestials is as follows:

Reference Frames

Gallery

• NJ6qJ.jpg

  A projection map of Kerbin, as of 0.14.1 and before (including the old demo).

• 

  An accurate full-colour projection map of Kerbin as of 0.14.2 to 0.17.1

• 

  A map displaying the delta V needed from/to Kerbin

• 

  The second launch site (currently unused).

• 

  Kerbin, Mün and Minmus.

• 

  A topographic heightmap of Kerbin made with the ISA MapSat plugin

• 

  Kerbin and the Mun, barely visible from ~500,550,000m

• 

  Topographical image of Kerbin from 0.17.1. The terrain is slightly different in the latest version.^[5]

• 

  An unmanned probe on escape trajectory, flying past Kerbin, Mün and Minmus

• 

  Kerbin's North Pole

• 

  Kerbin from above with the Runway Easter Egg

Changes

0.19.1

• Fixed ladders on the fuel tanks near the launchpad.

0.19

• New mesh for the launchpad and area (no launchtower anymore).
• New mesh for the runway, with lights and sloping edges for rovers.

0.18

• Terrain overhaul: Entire planet redo. Deserts, darker and greener grass, islands, darker ocean/water, snow capped mountains. Looks more realistic.
• Several Easter Eggs added.
• Airport added to island off of KSC coastline. (Not a launching point)

0.17

• Improved atmosphere visuals.

0.15

• Minmus added.

0.14.2

• Much more varied and taller terrain added. Prior to this, some mountain ranges exceeded 600 m in height, but the tallest point was at an altitude of approximately 900 m.

0.12

• Mün added.

0.11

• Terrain overhaul, oceans became wet.

0.10.1

• Atmosphere extended from ~34,500 m to ~69,000 m.

0.7.3

• Initial Release

Trivia

Kerbin's continents are derived from libnoise ^[6], though they have been increasingly modified with time.

Notes

1. ↑ A fuel-optimal ascent is one which (a) minimizes velocity losses to gravity and atmospheric drag and (b) launches eastward (toward the 90 degree heading) to gain 174.5 m/s of orbital velocity for free, thanks to Kerbin's rotation.
2. ↑ See this challenge on the forum and a popular Kerbin delta-V chart
3. ↑ Forum thread 16000, "[KGSS] Examining Kerbin's atmosphere"
4. ↑ http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/6664-Mini-challenge-max-altitude-with-this-supplied-spacecraft?p=100912&viewfull=1#post100912
5. ↑ http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/entry.php/247-A-Brave-New-World
6. ↑ http://libnoise.sourceforge.net/examples/complexplanet/

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