Duna

Duna is the fourth planet of the Kerbol star system and Mars analog for Kerbal Space Program. It is mostly red with polar icecaps and has one natural satellite, the moon Ike. Ike's size and proximity tidally locks it and Duna to each other. With proper aerobraking, a round trip from Kerbin to Duna's orbit and back requires roughly 1700 m/s of delta-v, less than a round trip to any other planet. Duna is often the easiest planet to encounter because its orbital inclination is low. There is a tutorial about Traveling to Duna and Back.

In-game Description

Also known as the red dot that you can see if you squint at it really hard, Duna has long been a wonder to Kerbalkind. The planet has been held in much awe due to its striking red color and stark contrast to the color green.

Topography

Duna's terrain ranges in altitude from 124 to 8264 meters. Its mountainous ranges are a peril to landing craft, especially considering the thin atmosphere, which permits very little safe aerobraking and causes Duna's expansive, icy poles. Duna has several craters, but they appear quite eroded, presumably from wind. Several maria (large regions of dark soil) are at exactly 0 meters altitude (deprecated). Their flatness and low altitude allow for more aerobraking and make them easy but boring landing locations. These may have been lakes when the planet may have had liquid on its surface in the past. Duna's surface contains anomalous features.

Atmosphere

Duna's atmosphere begins at 41,446 m. It is only 20% as dense as Kerbin's at sea level altitude and is even less dense relative to Kerbin at higher altitudes. At Duna's highest peak, atmospheric density is only 21% of that at sea level. For comparison, on Kerbin, the atmosphere at the highest peaks is 45% as thick as at sea level. This low density will cause parachutes to semi-deploy much lower, just over 10 km for the Mk25 Parachute, and just under 9 km for all the other parachutes. In comparison is the atmosphere the thinnest of all bodies with an atmosphere. Even Jool's moon Laythe has a more dense and higher atmosphere. The atmosphere appears to have a reddish or brownish tone itself. On the poles the illuminated atmosphere is coloured although the surface is white.

Landing

Aerobraking can save fuel by reducing orbital and surface velocity greatly. An aerobraking maneuver should maximize time spent in the atmosphere by entering at a shallow angle and aiming for a landing location in a low-lying area. One estimate for a good aerobraking height is 13,000 meters, which will then allow a relatively low delta-V burn at the apoapsis to create a stable orbit safely within Ike's reign of chaos. Like all atmospheres in the game, Duna's atmosphere fades exponentially with increasing altitude (with a scale height of 3000 m). Although 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.

Flying

Below 5 km Duna's atmosphere is thick enough to allow wings to generate enough lift for aerodynamic flight. Jet engines don't work for want of oxygen, but other propulsion methods work well. Performing a horizontal landing with a plane is also possible.

Lifting off

An ascent to Low Duna Orbit from the surface typically requires around 1500 to 2000 m/s in Delta-V to reach a 42 km altitude traveling at roughly 950 m/s. The following table gives terminal velocities at different Duna altitudes, which also the velocities at which a ship should travel for a fuel-optimal ascent from Duna, given the game's model of atmospheric drag.

Orbital Statistics

The synchronous orbit of Duna is at an altitude of 2 880.00 km above Duna. The speed of the satellite is 306.88 m/s and it has an orbital period resonating with 1 Duna day (18.2 hours or 65517.859375 seconds). However, this is the same altitude at which Ike orbits, so unless a ship's orbit is perfectly precise, it will eventually be captured by Ike. For a semi-synchronous orbit of ½ Duna day (9.1 hours or 32758.9295 seconds) an orbit of 1 695.87 km above Duna is needed with a velocity of 386.65 m/s.

Observation of Ike

Ike's orbit keeps it directly above a short range of Dunar longitudes. The average Duna longitude that Ike tends to stay directly above (at the Zenith) is 6 degrees east, but the eccentricity of Ike's orbit causes the exact longitude to oscillate between about 2 degrees and 10 degrees east and makes Ike appear to grow slightly larger and smaller to an observer on the surface of Duna. The latitude at which Ike is in the Zenith also oscillates between 0.2 degrees south and 0.2 degrees north due to Ike's orbital inclination, making Ike appear to rotate upwards and downwards as viewed from the surface, but due to the extremely small orbital inclination, this effect is nearly imperceptible. These phenomena together are known as libration. The oscillation in Ike's position above the horizon allows areas from 88°W to 80°W and 92°E to 100°E on Duna to observe Ike rise and set at least partially across the horizon, as can any areas north of 89.8°N or south of 89.8°S.

Interplanetary Travel

From altitude orbit around Duna, the delta-V needed to reach the orbits of other celestials is:

Reference Frames