Eeloo

Eeloo
Eeloo as seen from orbit.
Dwarf planet of Kerbol
Orbital Characteristics
Semi-major axis		90 118 820 000 m
Apoapsis		113 549 713 200 m
Periapsis		66 687 926 800 m
Orbital eccentricity		0.26
Orbital inclination		6.15 °
Argument of periapsis		260 °
Longitude of the ascending node		50 °
Mean anomaly		3.14 rad (at 0s UT)
Sidereal orbital period		156 992 048 s
		7 268 d 0 h 54 m 8.4 s
Synodic orbital period		9 776 696.3 s
Orbital velocity		2 764 - 4 706 m/s
Physical Characteristics
Equatorial radius		210 000 m
Equatorial circumference		1 319 469 m
Surface area		5.5417694×1011 m2
Mass		1.1149224×1021 kg
Standard gravitational parameter		7.4410815×1010 m3/s2
Density		28 740.754 kg/m3
Surface gravity		1.69 m/s2 (0.172 g)
Escape velocity		841.83 m/s
Sidereal rotation period		19 460.000 s
		5 h 24 m 20 s
Solar day		19 462.412 s
		5 h 24 m 22.4 s
Sidereal rotational velocity		67.804 m/s
Synchronous orbit		683.69 km
Sphere of influence		1.1908294×108 m
Atmospheric Characteristics
Atmosphere present		No
Scientific multiplier
Surface		15
Splashed		N/A
Near space		12
Outer space		10
Recovery		10

Eeloo is a dwarf planet that was originally released in version 0.18.2 of KSP1 as a Christmas gift to the KSP community. It is the seventh and farthest planet from Kerbol most of the time, though its orbit intersects Jool's, passing in front of it for a minority of its revolution period. The two planets are locked in a 3:2 resonance, which, coupled with their different inclinations, ensures they cannot collide.

Eeloo has just 3.5% more gravity than the Mun and is very similar in size. Like the Mun, it has no atmosphere. The physical characteristics of Eeloo are most likely an analogue of the ice moon Europa, and its orbit is similar to that of Pluto, though both bodies are known to have a tenuous atmosphere.

Eeloo's relatively large distance from Kerbol reduces solar power to approximately 4% at Eeloo periapsis and 1.4% at Eeloo apoapsis of the values seen at Kerbin. Bringing additional panels, or an alternate powersource (e.g.: RTGs) is recommended.

In-game Description

“

There’s been a considerable amount of controversy around the status of Eeloo as being a proper planet or a just “lump of ice going around the Sun”. The debate is still ongoing, since most academic summits held to address the issue have devolved into, on good days, petty name calling, and on worse ones, all-out brawls. — Kerbal Astronomical Society

”

Topography

The surface of Eeloo is relatively smooth and covered in gray-white ice, with deep canyons exposing the brownish rock below. A few craters are visible, but not nearly as one might expect for a body without an atmosphere. Its highest points are near the equator and are almost 3.9 km high, while the lower areas can go lower than sea level.

Eeloo's surface lacks ground scatter, suggesting the ice on the surface is subject to erosion of some sort.

It originally had an atmosphere, but it has been removed because the renderer for it doesn't work on bodies smaller than about Duna's size.

In KSP2, the "cracks" on Eeloo's surface are deep canyons.

Biomes

Eeloo has a total of 11 biomes.

Biome list

Eeloo In-game biome map as of 1.2

Poles Northern Glaciers Midlands Lowlands Ice Canyons Highlands Craters Fragipan Babbage Patch Southern Glaciers Mu Glacier

Orbits

Eeloo's distant, eccentric and inclined orbit, in addition to its low gravity, make encounters challenging. Its distance from Kerbin also tends to make missions very lengthy.

A synchronous orbit around Eeloo is possible, at an altitude of ~683.9 km.

Eeloo's eccentric orbit means that at certain points, it is incredibly close to Jool and in fact that for brief periods, is closer to the Sun than Jool. This means that the effect of Jool gravitational assists in an Eeloo mission can, with the right timing, drastically reduce the time spent on the mission. However, the rarity of this event means that a landed Eeloo craft will have to wait many years to reverse this action precisely and make it back to Kerbin.

Easter egg

Spoiler: Easter egg about the atmosphere

Actually, there's a very thin atmosphere around Pluto in real world. In the ScienceDefs.cfg file, it says for the Gravity Scan:

 {  
   EelooSrfLanded = There appears to be a teneous atmospheric coating around the planet. But it is too thin to affect any spacecraft landing here.	
 }

So it seemed like there's a very thin but otherwise non-measurable atmosphere out there.

Reference Frames

Time warp	Minimum Altitude
1×	Any
5×	4 000 m
10×	4 000 m
50×	20 000 m
100×	30 000 m
1 000×	40 000 m
10 000×	70 000 m
100 000×	150 000 m

Gallery

Kerbal Space Program

• 

  A small probe on Eeloo.

• 

  Sunset on Eeloo.

• 

  A topographic height map of Eeloo as of version 0.18.2, made with the ISA MapSat plugin.

• 

  A probe on Eeloo near midday.

• 

  A successful landing party on Eeloo.

• 

  A crew of very brave kerbonauts and a rover on the surface of Eeloo at sunset.

• 

  A mid-size interplanetary spaceship orbiting Eeloo at a distance of around 250 km.

• 

  Note the relatively flat topography and complete lack of ground scatter.

• 

  It's lonely orbiting this rock, but something has to do it.

• 

  Eeloo as it appears in 1.12, with high quality textures.

Changes

Kerbal Space Program

1.12

• Texture revamp

1.2

• Added biomes

0.90

• Added biomes

0.18.2

• Initial release

Kerbal Space Program 2

0.1.0

• Initial release

Trivia

• In KSP1, there were once plans for Eeloo to become the moon of a second gas planet and have an active surface, with cryovolcanic phenomena. It is unknown what Eeloo's parent planet was intended to look like, but according to former developer NovaSilisko Eeloo was to be the innermost moon of three other major moons.