![]() Parachute performance can be particularly troubling when attempting to land in highland areas. The most effective periapsis for aerocapture is best determined experimentally however, for a Hohmann transfer originating from Kerbin, it appears that the target range lies between 10 km and 20 km.Īlthough parachutes will deploy on Duna, the atmosphere is so thin that they are usually unable to slow a craft to a safe landing velocity and must be assisted with engines. The periapsis altitude required for a successful aerocapture depends on the spacecraft's drag characteristics, its approach velocity, and the desired apoapsis of the resulting orbit. The thickness of Duna's atmosphere makes it suitable for aerocapture from a high-speed interplanetary intercept. The atmosphere has this color even over the poles, where the surface is white. Since Duna has no axial tilt, there are no seasonal temperature variations.ĭuna's atmosphere appears to have a reddish or brownish color, both from the surface and from space. At the poles, the temperature varies between -90 ☌ and -85 ☌. At the equator, datum level temperatures vary between a nighttime low of -20 ☌ and a daytime high of -2 ☌. Between the altitudes of 30-45 km lies an isothermal layer, having a temperature of -123 ☌.Īir temperatures vary with latitude and time of day. Air temperatures decrease with increasing altitude to an altitude of 30 km. The surface of Duna is cold, with a globally averaged datum level temperature of approximately -23 ☌. The following table gives the atmospheric pressure at various altitudes above the datum level. The pressure-altitude profile is globally constant and independent of temperature. The scale height varies with altitude, which is a change from pre-1.0 versions of the game. Like all other atmospheres in the game, Duna's atmosphere fades exponentially as altitude increases. Although the composition of Duna's atmosphere is unknown, these values suggest that it may consist largely of carbon dioxide. The average molecular weight of Duna air is 42 g/mol, and its adiabatic index is 1.20. The pressure at the top of Duna's highest mountain peak is only 2.4 kPa. The datum level pressure on Duna is equivalent to that at an altitude of 14,975 m on Kerbin. Compared to the atmosphere of Kerbin, Duna's atmosphere has 1/15 th the mass, 1/15 th the surface pressure, and 1/9 th the surface density. Temperature and pressure of Duna's atmosphere as a function of altitude.ĭuna has a thin, cool atmosphere with a mass of approximately 3.0×10 15 kilograms, a datum level pressure of 6.755 kilopascals (0.067 atmosphere), and a depth of 50,000 meters. The trip may require a considerably higher delta-v budget for different orientations of Kerbin and Duna.Ī tutorial to get to Duna is available at the link. ![]() If the planets align properly, using a ballistic insertion burn from 100km, with proper aerobraking, a round trip from Kerbin to orbit around Duna and back requires ~1700 m/s of LKO delta-v, a relatively low amount compared to other interplanetary destinations. Duna is a terrestrial planet with a red-brown surface and polar ice caps similar to that of Kerbin.ĭuna's orbit has nearly the same inclination as Kerbin around Kerbol, making the planet one of the easiest to encounter. It has one tidally-locked and large natural satellite, the moon Ike. It is the Mars analog for Kerbal Space Program. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 The distances are given from the body's center, not from the surface (unlike ingame)ĭuna is the fourth planet from Kerbol and the fourth-largest planet.ASU Mars Space Flight FacilityĪ higher-resolution image of the same geologic feature taken by a better camera, the CTX camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, erases the illusion. Photo taken of the Gandhi face geologic feature by the Mars Express Orbiter. It is a low-resolution image taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter. To help sort out just what Ianneo is looking at, Jonathan Hill, a researcher at the Arizona State University Mars Space Flight Facility, which owns and operates a database of Mars images somewhat similar to Google's, tracked down the photo Google used of the Gandhi face, as seen below. ![]() Ī similar low-res deception is at work this time around. A higher-resolution image taken of the "face" last year by NASA's HiRISE camera revealed a rugged hill. Within days of its discovery, space hobbyists were speculating that the structure was man-made and had been built by ancient Martians. It is reminiscent of the Face on Mars, a hill photographed by NASA's Viking 1 probe in 1976 that, in one low-resolution image, resembled a face. ![]()
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