Grading Kerbin From KSP On Its Scientific Realism

In this episode, I'll be analyzing the properties of the planet Kerbin from Kerbal Space Program to determine how it, its moons, and its planetary system measure up against real-world planets.
#kerbalspaceprogram #kerbalspaceprogram2

[@palkialovefest5293]

*pulls out comically small and dense celestial bodies*

[@lagigabut4600]

Neutron star

[@ASTER-IX]

Asteroid

[@JohnV170]

Black hole

[@thespacepeacock]

I’ve been waiting for this one! Excited to watch! EDIT: couple of notes after watching: - as you mentioned, the impossible densities and low solar orbits are due to the devs scaling down the entire system by a factor of 10. The math should work out a lot better when you multiply every distance by 10 (there are actually mods for ksp that allow you to do this!), but the devs apparently decided that would make the game too difficult. - Minmus is implied to be a captured asteroid rather than a naturally formed moon of Kerbin. In KSP1, it is said to be made out of ice, but after the devs realised this was impossible due to its proximity to the system’s star they changed it to be made of glassy silicates in KSP2 - The Kerbolar system is remarkably stable for a fictional star system. The only body that exhibits an unstable orbit is Vall, the second moon of Jool. - To this day, nobody knows what’s up with Kerbol😂 It has so many conflicting data points its pretty much impossible to properly classify That being said, you did a great job combing through the treasure trove of data available about Kerbin and its system. This was a really enjoyable video to watch! Hope you’ll also grade some of the new planets and systems that are planned to be in KSP2 once those come out :) keep it up!

[@GhalidiusTrident]

Don't forget that in KSP2, Jool has a proper rocky surface more similar to that of a terrestrial planet rather than the gas-liquid-solid caused by a gradual increase in pressure, its just hidden under a thick layer of clouds that makes it look like a gas giant

[@thespacepeacock]

@@GhalidiusTrident i’m pretty sure that’s just a placeholder and not actually meant to be there eventually

[@qohaw_2883]

Curiously enough, if you look at beta footage of KSP, Kerbol *does* actually appear as a sort of pink-red star, instead of they yellow one that we see today - so, at some point, it *was* portrayed as a red/brown dwarf, which matches the calculations presented in the video.

[@undefinednan7096]

Random side notes: 1) Early versions of the game had both performance and numerical precision problems even with the reduced scales. The best known precision problem was the deep-space kraken (prior to 0.17), but the first public release (maybe the first few?) had an even worse problem: the intercontinental kraken, which affected anything too far from KSC. I'd guess that it was the same exact problem, but that they originally used floats instead of doubles, making the problem worse. However, I haven't looked at 0.7.3 in any detail in a long time. 2) I remember hearing that that the scale factor is closer to 11 than 10, and if one looks closely at the for example, kerbin's SMA is very close to 1/11 AU, its radius is about 1/10.62 R_earth (equatorial radii to be specific) and M_earth/M_kerbin ≈ (10.62)^2 (2 instead of 3 so that the surface gravity remains the same instead of the density). This doesn't work for kerbol's radius, though.

[@awesomerthe2nd697]

Found you again

[@hevendor958]

*ah yes.. Kerbin.. the Jewel of Kerbal Space Program, and the Jewel of Kerbol entirely* *but interestingly enough, there was meant to be a few other Additional Planets in the Kerbol System, but where cut in the final game. Those being Gas Planets 2, 3, and 4, Gas Planet 2 was intended to be a Saturn analogue in the Kerbol System, but assuming by the only known image of it, it would have been an Ice Giant. Gas Planet 3 was intended to be more of a Terrestrial Planet other than a Gas Giant, this could have been the Uranus Analogue. as for Gas Planet 4.. nothing is absolutely known about it, but it can be assumed to be the Neptune Analogue.* *kinda makes you wonder of what the System would be like if those Planets weren't cut.*

[@TlalocTemporal]

Eeloo was intended to be a moon of the saturn analog, itself being an Enceladus analog with a subsurface ocean, cryotectonics, and geysers.

[@SourceBrother]

There was going to be a easter egg planet that wouldn't show up in the tracking station or map view and you would have to eyeball the location. It was going to be a hint that there was life on Duna at one point but was wiped out by teleportation tech that sent their colonized planet (they left Duna after it became uninhabitable) into an unstable orbit around the sun, resulting in the species death. The hint would be activated by decoding the Duna pyramid signal, a formation on Duna that's still there (the signal is gone but can be found in earlier versions) The developer has since left what was once squad and nothing is known about his whereabouts. The coolest piece of KSP history in my opinion.

[@haburger5607]

Source? Ive never heard of this before..

[@hevendor958]

*NovaSilisko talked about them on a Post on a Discussion entitled "Planet Ideas And Names For The Future Of Kerbal Space Program", on its 7th page. It can be found on the Kerbal Space Program Forums.*

[@notjebbutstillakerbal]

Outer planets mod.

[@uCruz_]

That was surprisingly fun. Tought you were just going to talk shit about the game, I'm glad that you pointed out that the devs knew what they were doing.

[@thestrangecrisismalachi4121]

Its so cute that the Kerbals always love to explore their little universe.

[@rustyshackleford234]

Mankind could learn a thing or two from the kerbals, I know too many people who think space is a waste of time, and it hurts that people actually think that.

[@anarchofuturist3976]

i think the gravitational constant in the ksp universe is just way higher than in ours

[@FHM1994]

Hello, really like your detailed analysis of these strange alien planets, have you ever looked into the realism of Aegis VII or Tau Volantis from the Dead Space universe?

[@Piokoxer]

Imagine him rating outer wilds' solar system, he would go ballistic 💀

[@SomeAT-AT]

He would go on for HOURS on Giant's Deep!

[@Piokoxer]

@@SomeAT-AT first of all the impossibly dense planet Second of all permanent storms Third of all how the hell did island-sized rocks get there but no smaller ones? Fourth of all how do the up-pushing cyclones have the same color as the gas on the top (which has to be the lightest)

[@patrickbliss9264]

​@@PiokoxerI know absolutely nothing about Outer Wilds, but how is permanent storms an issue since jupiter has had The Great Red Spot raging for over 300 years?

[@Piokoxer]

@@patrickbliss9264 the planets in outer wilds are absolutely tiny But aside from that yeah there isn't much of an issue

[@Piokoxer]

@@patrickbliss9264 also play outer wilds it's like really damn good

[@kakifia]

Finally!!!!!

[@SirGeneTX]

Kerbal is the single most accurate “physics game” out there. For those of us who have graduated beyond the 4x smaller Kerbal system, mods allow replacement of the solar system with the Sol system at correct sizes and distances.

[@Bruce_Games]

I would install those but my crappy 2018 acer nitro would have an nuclear meltdown

[@Damian-cilr2]

@@Bruce_Games oh hey same! i think i have an even older one tho i wouldnt neccessairly install it but i have a similar laptop

[@hubbletrubble7875]

It's certainly not the most accurate (X-Plane prolly takes the cake), and it's actually 10x smaller than real scale. But, it is very realistic and most of the unrealistic aspects are forgivable for the sake of gameplay

[@iliketrains0pwned]

"...I'm really happy they have not tried to explain the impossible density of the planetary bodies by claiming they are made of some ultra-dense, fictitious element" Minmus: *_Sweats mint ice-cream nervously_*

[@xermionthesecond4396]

@@AlienPlanetology the science dialogue from the game when you analyze (eat) a sample from it.

[@KawaiiFlandre495]

Thank you, Thank you so so much I live Kerbal Space Program.

[@echoecho3155]

This was fun. Looking forward to seeing what's next on the chopping block.

[@6ar6oyle6]

so what would its grade be if the system was upscaled to a realistic proportion

[@6ar6oyle6]

@@AlienPlanetology awesome thanks for the reply

[@jamesasimmons]

@@AlienPlanetology Hello. I'm the original maintainer of the 10x Kerbal mod which scales it up 10x. I did have to rework the star Kerbol. I calculated the solar mass to be .88334 of sol, and .887 solar radius

[@hubbletrubble7875]

@@AlienPlanetology I don't know them, but I'd have to guess the reason is that Kerbin's realistic SMA is 0.909 AU, but it's irradiance (amount of sunlight it recieves) is identical to earth.

[@NaeroSpace]

This video is fantastically well done and added so much depth to something I thought I understood well :)

[@Lukemaster130]

Fantastic and very intresting. I never knew any of this stuff, and I'm glad I do now. Would love to see grades of the other planets in KSP!

[@Ax6Creepyxxd]

Amazing video! I don't think you've ever done this but would you consider at some point making a video about the realism of Earth itself? I think it would be kinda funny but still really interesting to watch.

[@jocax188723]

It should be noted that experiments penetrating the surfaces of planetary bodies in the Kerbal system have revealed that all of them contain singularities (see Stratzenblitz’s series on underground exploration). This explains the impossible density of these bodies. This pretty much confirms that the bodies are artificial in origin (a hypothesis supported by the recent Mün arch anomalies.)

[@hevendor958]

*the thing i feel like that contradicts the hypothesis of the Planetary Bodies of Kerbol being artificial in origin, is the existence of Debdeb in KSP2. Debdeb is clearly shown to be a Young Star that's orbited by 3 (i think) Young Planets orbiting it, they're all clearly shown to be natural in origin with the existence of the multiple Impact Craters on Gurdamma, Donk, and Charr. Along with the existence of Multiple Asteroid Belts and Debris Disk's that clearly formed around the Red Star of Debdeb (or whatever Spectral type it is...)*

[@NuclearFalcon146]

The lack of eccentricity or axial tilt in both Kerbin's orbit around Kerbol, and Mun's orbit around Kerbin, combined with the equatorial location of the launch facility, are for gameplay reasons. This is most certainly the case for Kerbin to Mun transfers. The Mun is meant to be the first object new players launch a transfer to and thus a perfectly circular orbit in line with the launch facility (meaning the launch window is ALWAYS open and you do not need to wait for a specific time) makes Kerbin to Mun transfers the most forgiving in the entire game. As you have stated the deviations from realism are for gameplay reasons and done in a way that makes sense. What I did not know until you told me is that the numbers were even done in a way that was trying to mitigate and minimize breaks from realism to only those that were absolutely necessary for gameplay.

[@Undine1225]

Great video! 😊

[@rustyshackleford234]

Will you do KSP’s planet eve? It’s one of my favorite planets in the whole game! I’d also recommend Dres, as in KSP2 it has a ring system! Also all the planets, moons, orbits, and asteroids are scaled down for gameplay. Even scaled down 10x it takes forever to get to them! (Also minmus is supposed to be captured I think, and in KSP 2 it’s made out of glass or something)

[@Titanic-wo6bq]

Please do the rest of the Kerbol system, and maybe OPM (one of the best planet mods for KSP) if you can. Will be subscribing for sure, god knows how I didn't find out about your channel sooner.

[@diamondhero3804]

1:43 I thought we decided on the pronunciation of mun not moon… well guess I’m behind!

[@NikTehWafel]

He’s wrong. Even if the devs say it’s pronounced moon, he is still wrong, and so are the devs. It’s MÜN FOREVER

[@avandorhu-3389]

Was not expecting to see this, But it's a nice surprise! I always wanted to re-design the Kerbol system one way or the other. Especially because of Jool. While the rest of the kerbol system is rather stable in terms of orbits, the moons of Jool always make the entire Joolian system fly apart into the rest of the system. especially since 2 of jool's moons (Laythe and Tylo) are almost identical in size and mass to kerbin. So that, combined with jool's comparitively low mass, means that those 2 moons always bully the other moons around until only those two moons are left. Not a very good look for a game that's supposed to be accurate to orbital mechanics. And that's not even mentioning the moon-planet mass ratio between those two moons and Jool. Scaled up, that would be like Jupiter having 2 earth sized moons.

[@alexolas1246]

There’s a mod for KSP1 called “Principia” that actually implements n-body physics for all objects, even the astral bodies. As you can imagine, Jool is a bit problematic for such a concept, so the mod also comes with an adjustment to Jool’s moons. Namely, it raises the orbits of Vall & Tylo to restore a 1:2:4 orbital ratio with themselves and Laythe, and reverses Bop’s orbit to make it retrograde.

[@Loic_Tomatot]

There is one program I wish you could look into to analyze the planets : Space Engine. How accurate the procedural generation is in this game ^^ And if you need help or information about it, I would be glad to give a hand !

[@thestrangecrisismalachi4121]

Good point 😮

[@patrykmachowski97]

5:07 the reason its that way is because in the early days of ksp Kerbol was actually a red dwarf star instead but then they changed it ro a yellow dwarf forgetting about the orbits

[@genesis209_gd]

This is the series i needed. Glad i found it. I also have a request. Not really sci fi tho. Nirn from the elder scrolls. Not even sure it qualifies as a planet, but it would be interesting.

[@testrichter]

Great analysis. Any chance of a profile for Mesklin, from Hal Clement's Mission of Gravity?

[@Peteboi64932]

Fun fact: In german, Mun does have an umlaut! (Mün)

[@Triplane1234]

1:49 200km radius aka 400km diameter is enough to be spherical, as the smallest spherical body in the solar system, Actaea, has a diameter of just 284km or a radius of 142km

[@kfcroc18]

I don't believe it is so impossible for a terrestrial planet to have more than one big moon, unlikely, sure, but not impossible.

[@giovannibini6809]

the first big moon forms with a giant impact and a second smaller one is captured by a slingshot from the first. After millions of years they enter resonance. Far from impossible

[@kfcroc18]

@@giovannibini6809 Another Idea is that the debris field from the impact splits into two, and two big moons form.

[@christmassnow3465]

This setup reminds me of highly advanced civilizations building artificial planets with unusual properties that cannot coincide naturally. There may be many Sci-Fi and speculative projects about artificial planets and megastructures which should also be featured on your videos. I don't know many of these, but I am familiar with Larry Niven's Ringworld. Star War's Death star is another megastructure that is so massive that you can feel its gravitational force. It may be interesting to speculate how life on the inside of a death star would look like. Does the death star possess enough gravity to hold on to an atmosphere on its surface?

[@barbarahill988]

Enjoyed

[@aidancarwash]

I think it is stated somewhere that minimus was a captured object and did not form around kerbin

[@pablorodriguez9254]

kerbin just built different 🔥💯💯

[@xermionthesecond4396]

Could you do the Stanton system from Star Citizen? There’s a lot of data available afaik for the planets and star

[@Feradose]

banger video

[@LisaAnn777]

Yes this will be good!

[@bighmm6301]

You should do something like this with Droo, the earthlike planet from Juno: new origins.

[@Virsho]

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@SomeAT-AT]

How long does it take you to make the planet models?

[@axjagfilms]

Could you grade Mars from The War Of The Worlds?

[@joeallen9104]

Would it be realistic for a terrestrial planet to have a predominantly crystalline crust while still having a molten iron core?

[@robertcurry389]

Minmus is actually supposed to have been a comet that got caught by Kerbin.

[@Little908]

“Whips out space engineers “planets””

[@justatheoontheinternet]

Ok, but why does the kerbal in the thumbnail literally look like a DEMON

[@oshjosh134]

Now what about earth from the ksp rss mod?

[@SirNobleIZH]

You just know this man plays KSP with realism overhaul

[@arturzimplayerpro2573]

the temperature in the coldest parts is about 50 degrees celcius

[@wolfcraft484]

well the planets do ingame have a sort of "black hole" at the center of them so that does explain the density but might make things more complicated

[@titan-1802]

although while the Singularities at the center of the Planet's could be an explanation for the High Density, i'm still willing stick that they had to scale the entire System down for multiple reasons.

[@Damian-cilr2]

@@titan-1802 firstly probably gameplay reasons.second idk other than jool's moons the ksp system is fairly realistically stable lol,the rest of the stuff (the mass,density,and size of planets and the star) isnt really consistent with how the objects look

[@titan-1802]

@@Damian-cilr2 yeah, good point.

[@Lilqueso1]

You should do Nirn from the elder scrolls series

[@archae108]

Hey! It’s Kerbin! From KSP!

[@Damian-cilr2]

the impossible densities and orbits are mostly because the devs scaled it down 10x,because it was supposedly too difficult otherwise,if you made the sizes,orbits and etc 10x bigger,would like to see this but 10x sized

[@corneliusmcmuffin3256]

SCP 1337(K) Object Class: Kerbol Special Containment Procedures: Unknown.

[@grahamnombit3024]

What if the gravitational constant is wrong, not the mass

[@grahamnombit3024]

@@AlienPlanetology thank you for explaining why I am wrong

[@arturzimplayerpro2573]

kerbin has an axel tilt in ksp 2.

[@KARM-oc1yr]

Some people have managed to get "underground" on these objects only to find a singularity at the centre. Could this mean they are in fact artificial with black holes generating the gravity? This would explain the immense density.

[@titan-1802]

though, there is indeed a problem the Hypothesis, mostly because Debdeb is shown to clearly be a Young Star System with multiple Planetary Belts, and 3 confirmed Planet's with 2 of them being mostly cratered. but i just like to think that Kerbal Space Program takes place in a Universe where Star System's are smaller in size compared to actual sized Systems. (you know, because of the Existence of multiple other Upcoming Star System's in KSP2, that likely also means that they too would have planet's, Moon's, Dwarf Planet's, and many more smaller in size.)

[@SPACEMAN98]

Do droo from Juno new origins

[@Spaceguy-nineteensixtynine]

I would think terrestrial planets can form multiple moons. Mars has 2, could you explain this for me?

[@Spaceguy-nineteensixtynine]

@@AlienPlanetology ah that makes a lot more sense! Appreciate it!

[@kennycarter5682]

the kerbal universe works in strange ways... it has different physics and chemistry

[@ortherner]

no way

[@thebrick.1385]

One word: kraken. that is how it is all possible.

[@hevendor958]

*sarcasm at its finest*

[@glassychap1141]

I know you probably won’t do it but I think a good planet to cover would be Kypton from the DCEU/Snyderverse kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGXco6JtfseebJo here is even a link to one of the special features from Man of Steel!

[@kylietravers3466]

Probably Kerbin Orbits Around Alpha Centauri B Like Polyphemus Kerbol Would be Too Far Away From the Sun. So Alpha Centauri is The Perfect System For Kerbin

[@titan-1802]

the problem here is that Kerbol is way smaller than Alpha Centauri B, and there is no Secondary Star seen near or around Kerbol.

[@kylietravers3466]

@@titan-1802 LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!! 🤬

[@hevendor958]

*titan here* I was just saying, jeez. No need to be rude.

[@DeltaHydrixian]

Ksp 1 shrinks down the sizes of every object. And its pronounced “Mun” not “Moon” (most of the time)

[@ag_064]

Hey! If you want some ideas you can check out Star Citizen's planets and do videos on those, def would watch

[@ag_064]

@@AlienPlanetology yes definitely!!! There is only 1 star system in game right now, so you can do that, but i believe there are in canon huge hubs for humans and aliens to live together. But i think, with only Stanton system being in the game, you can do a planet from that, there are 3 habitable ones i believe and other are moons and a gas giant

[@GileadMaerlyn]

0:06 2011 not 2015

[@LucasBell99]

i cannot be convinced that this video wasnt made, recorded and edited by an AI like WHY do you sound like a robot

[@hevendor958]

*maybe thats just simply you, Alien Planetology sounds like a normal Human to me.*

[@matrioshkaforever7753]

To be honest I have played KSP with realism and the earth instead of Kerbin and I will tell you it is a pain in the *** to get to the moon, for me personally it took 40 days IRL to think and make a rocket capable of landing on the moon, so really it is not realistic in terms of celestial bodies, but it’s realistic in everting else.

[@Low.quality.087-B]

Wassup guys today im gonna see how Minmus really tastes to answer the most asked ksp question. Answer: it tastes like a dusty concrete wall with an aftertaste of ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆ. I give it lung cancer/10 Would recommend if you have reviving kerbals on 👍

[@MarinoMoons]

it its pronounced mUh-n not mOOn, with a schwa sound! It is not pronounced the same as the real life Moon!!! and I think the Kerbolar system is supposed to be at a 1: 10 scale