Ike
Ike is a moon and the only natural satellite of Duna. Ike has steep, rocky slopes and no atmosphere. Ike and Duna are tidally locked due to their proximity and Ike's size. This means that Ike's orbit around Duna is geosynchronous.
An encounter with Ike is quite likely when approaching Duna, provided the player's trajectory is near the plane of Ike's orbit. This is because Ike's sphere of influence is very high relative to the semi-major axis of its orbit — in fact, no other moon in the game has a larger SOI-to-semi-major-axis ratio.
Stationary orbit around Ike is not possible — it would require an altitude of 0.00 m, outside of Ike's sphere of influence. However, since Ike and Duna are tidally locked to each other, a spacecraft in stationary orbit around Duna will see Ike in a stable, non-rotating position, as it would appear in a stationary Ike orbit.
Traveling from a 50 km Duna orbit to a 10 km Ike orbit requires approximately 435 m/s of delta-V.
Contents
Topography
Ike is extremely rocky, with craters that span for many kilometers. Its tallest points are 12.75 km above its lowest, giving it an elevation range over 3 times that of the Mun despite the fact that the Mun has a 54% wider radius and 137% more surface area. The increased elevation and smaller size result in many steep slopes and make landing quite difficult. The bottoms of craters are among the flatter, safer landing locations.
Reference Frames
Gallery
A gravitational assist from Ike can help reduce descent velocity down to Duna's surface.
Ike eclipsing Duna
Ike as seen in the Tracking Station
Topographical map of Ike
Polar topographical map
A topographic height map of Ike made with the ISA MapSat plugin
Changes
- Initial Release
