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Eve

Eve from Low Orbit

Eve[]

Eve is the second planet from Kerbol and is the second largest body orbiting it. It is purple in appearance. It has one small moon, a captured asteroid called Gilly. Eve seems to be the real life analogue of Venus.

Eve is the closest planet to Kerbin and the potentially the easiest to reach, requiring the least delta-v of any planet. However, a slight inclination relative to Kerbin makes encounters slightly harder. Having a similar size to Kerbin gives it a large gravity well. The result is that it requires the most delta-v of any celestial body with a solid surface to escape from it. Its thick atmosphere (much thicker than Kerbin) makes aerocaptures and landings easy, but makes a start from sea level even harder because most fuel will be wasted on overcoming atmospheric friction.

The combination of high gravity and thick atmosphere makes return missions from the sea level of Eve very difficult. It requires about 7000 m/s of vacuum delta-v to get into orbit from sea level.

Eve is 1400 km in diameter, making it 200 km larger than Kerbin, and the largest terrestrial planet in the Kerbal solar system.

Topography[]

Eve has several oceans and large, flat continents with a few mountain peaks. The composition of the liquid which fills the oceans and lakes is unknown, but it is unlikely to be water because the boiling point of water is slightly below the surface temperature, even when taking the high atmospheric pressure into account. According to the devs during a livestream, it was joked that the lakes were made of rocket fuel. The land masses look like purple sand dunes. Its tallest point is 6450 m above sea level and is just south of the equator, at 1.90° W, 11.86° S.

Atmosphere[]

Eve's atmosphere begins at 96,708.6 m and is extremely dense: at 11,250 m, it's as thick as Kerbin's atmosphere at sea level (1 atm), and at Eve sea level the atmospheric pressure is 5 atm. Its atmospheric pressure fades exponentially, with a scale height of 7000 m. The atmosphere should be superheated due to the thick atmosphere trapping in heat, much like Venus.

In general, the atmospheric pressure on Eve at an altitude expressed in meters is:

Pe = 5 e - altitude/7000

From within Eve's atmosphere, the sky appears indigo during nighttime. During dawn and dusk, the sky is green. The atmosphere is possibly composed of iodine, given its purple coloration.

Jet engines do not function in Eve's atmosphere, since it contains no oxygen — they make noise and consume fuel, but they produce no thrust. Planes with other propulsion methods do however work very well in Eve's atmosphere and are a great way to explore the planet. Try to stay on a height between 35 km and 25 km where the atmosphere generates enough lift to glide and steer, but not so much drag that it slows you down too much.

As with version 0.17.1, an aerobraking maneuver arriving from Kerbin and resulting in to orbit around Eve - without using fuel for braking - can be done aiming for at periapsis at approximately 72,500 m.

The following table gives terminal velocities at different Eve altitudes. These are also the velocities at which a ship should travel for a fuel-optimal ascent from Eve, given the game's model of atmospheric drag.

Natural Satellites[]

Eve's only natural satellite is the tiny captured asteroid named Gilly in a highly eccentric and inclined orbit. Gilly is currently the smallest celestial body in the Kerbal system.

Orbital Statistics[]

A synchronous orbit of Eve requires an altitude of 10373.195 km and a velocity of 858.95 m/s. For a semisynchronous orbit of ½ Eve day (11.25 hours or 40500 seconds) an orbit of 6275.676 km above Eve is needed with a velocity of 1082.2 m/s.

Info[]

Orbital Characteristics
Semi-Major Axis 9 832 684 544 m 
Apoapsis 9 931 011 387 m 
Periapsis 9 734 357 701 m 
Orbital Eccentricity 0.01
Orbital Inclination 2.1 °
Argument of periapsis {{{pe arg}}} °
Longitude of the ascending node {{{an arg}}} °
Mean Anomaly 3.15 rad (at 0s UT)
Siderial orbital period 5 657 995 s
65 d 11 h 39 m 55.1 s
Synodic orbital period 14 687 035 s
169 d 23 h 43 m 54.5 s
Orbital Velocity 10 811 to 11 029 m/s
Physical Characteristics
Equatorial Radius 700 000 m
Surface Area 6.1575216×1012 m2
Mass 1.2244127×1023 kg
Gravitational Parameter 8.1717302×1012 m3/s2
Density 85 220.698 kg/m3
Surface Gravity 16.7 m/s2
Escape Velocity 4 831.96 m/s
Sidereal Rotation Period 80 500.000 s
22 h 21 m 40 s
Sidereal Rotational Velocity 54.636 m/s
Synchronous Orbit 10 328.47 km
Sphere of Influence 85 109 365 m
Highest elevation 6450 m
Atmospheric Characteristics
Atmosphere Present Yes
Atmospheric Pressure 507 kPa
5 atm
Scale Height 7000 m
Atmospheric Height 96 708.574 m
5.0×10-6 atm
Temperaturemin -40.19 °C 232.96 K
Temperaturemax 149.96 °C 423.11 K
Oxygen Present No
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