Runway/ru

The runway is the facility at the Kerbal Space Center that vehicles like planes created in the Space Plane Hangar take off and land on. Introduced in 0.15, the Runway is approximately 1.8 kilometers long going from east to west. Vehicles start out on the west end of the runway, facing east. Prior to the redesign in version 0.19 of the launch pad the runway was also used to launch large rockets which would otherwise collide with the launch tower on the pad. This is no longer necessary as the tower has been removed and the launchpad can now accommodate rockets of any The runway is illuminated since version 0.22 so it becomes easier to find and align to the runway at night. Along with added illumination the runway was redesigned so that the painting looks worn off. Although there were lights before they were barely visible, if at all. One way to make targeting the runway easier is to place little dummy crafts at each corner.

If a wheeled vehicle is parked on the runway but its brakes are not engaged, it may be observed to very slowly roll towards the center. It has been theorized that this occurs because the runway is perfectly flat but the surface of Kerbin is spherical, which causes the runway's ends to be slightly elevated and form an effective slope where the force of gravity deviates from perfectly perpendicular to the tarmac.