Moho

Moho/Data

Moho is the innermost planet of the Kerbol star system and the Mercury analogue for Kerbal Space Program. It resembles Dres and Eeloo, as it lacks an atmosphere and natural satellites. As of 0.18, it is no longer tidally locked to Kerbol.

Moho's inclined and eccentric orbit, lack of atmosphere (for aerobraking) and moons (for gravity assists) impede encountering and orbital capture.

In-game Description

“

Moho figures in Kerbal mythology as a fiery place with oceans of flowing lava. In reality, however, it's much less interesting.

Scientists speculate about possible ways to make it awesome like in the stories. Some of those ideas have led to new breakthroughs in aerospace technology.

— Kerbal Astronomical Society

”

Naming

Moho is also the name for the outermost layer of molten rock that makes up the mantle (that layer was the target of Project Mohole). It may have been named by Kerbal astronomers who, according to its in-game description, believed it to be flowing with rivers and oceans of lava.

Topography

Moho's surface ranges from light brown highlands to dark brown maria or basins, probably the product of volcanism. Its highest point is in its northern hemisphere at an altitude of 6817 m. Moho's heavy cratering, though less than that of the moons of Kerbin and Jool, suggests erosion. Tidal friction with Kerbol most likely causes airless Moho's erosion by inducing volcanic periods that fill craters(citation needed). The volcanism (i.e., superheated atmosphere) of Moho being removed in 0.18 could be argued to prove that Moho's volcanism is periodic, assuming that volcanic events occur on a cyclical geological timescale and that the change in 0.18 represented the end of a cycle.

Moho has two very deep wells at its geographic north and south poles. Current analysis and probe exploration have revealed the north crater to be more than five kilometers deep; however, the probe crashed into the ever narrowing canyon walls before reaching the very bottom. A set of three probes was then sent to properly determine the depth to within 100 meters. The final analysis found the depth of the northern well to be around 4.6 km deep after the final probe reached the very bottom intact.^[1] These wells may be dormant volcanic tubes. Further analysis of the canyon walls is needed for a final answer. These holes, often called Moholes, may be a reference to Project Mohole or the deep well named the "Mohole" in the game Red Faction: Guerrilla.

Orbital Statistics

Mohosynchronous and semi-synchronous orbits are impossible — they would require altitudes of 18 182.08 km and 11 361.48 km respectively, both of which are beyond Moho's sphere of influence.

Reference Frames

Time warp	Minimum Altitude
1×	Any
5×	10 000 m
10×	10 000 m
50×	30 000 m
100×	50 000 m
1 000×	100 000 m
10 000×	200 000 m
100 000×	300 000 m

Solar System Counterpart

It appears that Moho is the Kerbol System analog of the planet Mercury. Both share a similar cratered landscape, like most bodies with little to no atmosphere. Both planets are also the closest ones to their respective stars and are lacking of natural satellites. On the other hand Moho has a brown texture, but Mercury is grey to dark grey. In addition, Mercury has at least a very tenuous atmosphere of about 10⁻¹³ kPa while Moho has no atmosphere, although a pressure of only 10⁻¹³ kPa (≃ 10⁻¹⁵ atm) would be unmeasurable by the PresMat Barometer and consequently register in KSP as a vacuum.

Gallery

A topographic height map of Moho as at Version 0.18.2 made with the ISA MapSat plugin.
A successful landing at Moho pre-0.18. Note the engines still overheating.
A successful landing in 0.23.5, after Moho's color was changed and its superheated atmosphere was removed. The walls of the basins are quite steep.
A probe wedged in the 5 km deep lava well at the north pole.
A probe performing a Moho flyby.
Bill Kerman having the time of his life wedged in the Northern Mohole.
Hanny Kerman wedged in the Northern Mohole sideways. Lots of orientation jittering was observed.