Blalo

**Blalo** is the second planet orbiting Nova Kirbani A. It's a temperate habitable world, and one of the only planets very similar to Kerbin in the entire system.

## In-game Description

*"Blalo is regarded as a jewel in an otherwise desolate star system. It is one of the most Kerbin-like worlds discovered, albeit with a slightly higher gravity and colder temperatures. Blalo is a prime destination for the aspiring colonist to explore its balmy grasslands and seas."*

## Discovery

Blalo was the first Kerbin-like exoplanet to be discovered. The planet was discovered using the transit method as kerbal scientists noticed that the brightness of Nova Kirbani A dropped with a small amount on a regular basis.

After studying the planet over the course of a few weeks, they concluded that it was a rocky planet roughly the size of Kerbin. It wasn't until better technology was invented before scientists discovered its habitability.

Once it was found to possibly host life, it became the prime target for colonization attempts, speeding up the development of technology needed to reach space. Some theorists believe that Blalo's habitability may have been the biggest factor in the formation of the Kerbal Space Program.

Back home, numerous scientific organizations are in heated debate about whether or not to colonize Blalo. On one hand, colonization risks contaminating or even destroying the delicate native ecosystem with invasive Kerbin life, as they argue Blalo's native life may have very unique species and environments found nowhere else in the Universe.

On the other hand, Blalo is too Kerbin-like to resist the temptation. Because of the giant impact that occurred 100 million years ago and wiped out most species on Blalo, some Kerbal scientists even see the planet as a clean slate, ripe for colonization.

Only time will tell which side wins out.

## Physical Characteristics

Blalo is seen by many as a prime destination for kerbals wishing to colonize Nova Kirbani. The planet is remarkably similar to Kerbin in size, shape, composition and temperature. Because Blalo is larger than Kerbin, the continents have shown more evidence of plate tectonics on the surface, such as larger mountain ranges. Currently, Blalo is in a phase where it is close to having a single supercontinent, similar to the kind Kerbin has had in the past. However, scientists believe while some continents are merging, others are moving apart, and a single supercontinent will be close but not achieved for millions of years.

The biosphere is divided into multiple sections, the main ones being the east hemisphere, the west hemisphere, the ocean, and the poles.

Blalo’s west hemisphere is the drier hemisphere due to the large continents it has. The southern continent is home to the main desert on Blalo, which is still humid relative to most deserts on Kerbin. Its hostility to life is due to the high temperatures and lack of water compared to other biomes on Blalo. Nevertheless, life has continued to survive on this “humid” desert on Blalo. The desert also serves a vital role to other areas on the western hemisphere, as it will move warm air to other areas during the winter. An example would be in the grasslands north of the inland sea that divides the desert from the northern continent. Winter, which would usually lead to a snow-covered grasslands, ends up being rather temperate due to warm air rising from the southern desert. This allows the grasslands to be temperate or warm all year, making it a great spot for migrating animals.

The eastern hemisphere is much more tropical in humidity than the western hemisphere. Warm, humid air from an equatorial sea connecting to the major oceans allows the continents to sustain humid grasslands with more trees. The continents, especially the northern continent, are more susceptible to storms, especially during the early spring and late fall when warm air from the desert interacts with the cold winter air.

The tundras and poles of Blalo are different in nature to the main portions of the continents. Much of the tundras are locked off by mountain ranges, and are cold almost year round. The regions are sparsely populated with life, save for some hardy trees and moss-like plants, along with some herding animals that roam the tundras. Much of the tundras sit on piles of permafrost as well. Because more land is in the northern hemisphere, the north has colder winters than the south, leading to a larger tundra.

Blalo’s ice caps are different from each other in composition and life. The north pole is connected to land and sits on some rock, allowing the ice to sustain life even in hostile conditions and harsh winters. It also stays frozen for most of the year, as the ice cap has limited connection to equatorial air and sea currents. Blalo’s south pole, however, is almost entirely devoid of life. Being a single cap of water with no land, the surface is inhospitable for life on Blalo, despite having warmer winters. However, some aquatic organisms will spend some time to breed on the land to avoid predators during warmer months.

Lastly, Blalo’s oceans are the 4th main region of the planet. Blalo is home to 3 main oceans (the intercontinental, the extracontinental, and the northern oceans), as well as many seas, lakes and rivers. Blalo’s oceans are significantly less saline than Kerbin, making the water fresher while still having minerals dissolved. The oceans are largely empty, similar to Kerbin’s oceans, but have less diversity, likely from the impact that caused one of the largest mass extinctions known to kerbals.

Blalo’s richest aquatic environment is the inland sea on its western hemisphere. The inland sea marks the border between the deserts of the south and the grasslands to the north. Because of the warm temperatures and large amount of minerals deposited from the continents, the sea is home to a dense aquatic ecosystem that rivals some coral reefs found on Kerbin. Most of Blalo’s aquatic species are believed to either live there or spend some part of their life in the inland sea.

## Atmosphere and Climate

Blalo’s atmosphere is similar to Kerbin’s. The atmosphere is composed primarily of nitrogen, with oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapor are also present. Blalo’s atmosphere has lower levels of oxygen than Kerbin, but with slow adaptation a kerbal could get used to it. Blalo’s air also has a higher content of water vapor, making the air slightly more humid. This leads to more rainfall through the whole year.

Blalo’s climate, is surprisingly similar to Kerbin’s. Although the planet's eccentricity moves it through the habitable zone of Nova Kirbani A. A more lack of water on the western hemisphere creates year-long dry seasons, forming the desert and savannas present on that side. On the eastern hemisphere, smaller continents are cooled and humidified by water and tend to have richer grasslands and forests. A strong presence of land and mountains cools the northern hemisphere significantly, allowing for more tundras to form on the northern hemisphere, opposed to the south.

## Life

Life on Blalo has developed surprisingly similar to life on Kerbin. Because Nova Kirbani A’s spectral class is the same as Kerbol’s, plants absorb mostly the same frequency and have the same green hue as on Kerbin.

100 million years ago, Blalo suffered a giant collision from a Dres-sized body that vaporized the planet's surface and wiped out the entire super-habitable biosphere in one fatal blow. This massive extinction event is the largest Kerbalkind has ever discovered and is known as the H-S (Habitable-Sterile era) Total Extinction Event, or the Great Sterilization. The planet's few intact fossil records that date back this far show that the planet remained uninhabitable for at least a million years after impact.

Eventually, some species of bacteria managed to survive the impact and quickly covered the surface. Because evolution was not fully restarted, the organisms were able to adapt and specialize quickly. This sudden increase of biodiversity post-extinction is known as the Klalean Explosion. A second spike in diversity was found about 2 million years ago, possibly from a spike in radiation from one of the Nova Kirbani stars.

In terms of Blalo's current biosphere, Blalo is covered in extensive grasslands spread across the surface and large amounts of animal life spread throughout the land and seas.

The warmer oceans of Blalo support a variety of sea life, including giant kelp and various species of two-tailed fish, to name a few. The waters on Blalo are also saturated with green algae, which provides a plentiful food source for many aquatic creatures. Much of Blalo's coastlines are also lined with reef-like structures.

On land, most plant life is slightly stockier and shorter than on Kerbin due to the higher gravity. Surface animals on Blalo mostly share the hexapod (six-legged) nature of their most recent common ancestors, despite not needing it to accommodate with the gravity. Insects and parasitic organisms are plentiful on Blalo. While this is mostly good for the biosphere on Blalo, it does spell bad news for Kerbal visitors. It is always advised to remain inside a spacesuit or any other airtight area whenever possible on Blalo to prevent cross contamination of either Blalean or Kerbal microbes.

Most of Blalo’s animal life are tetrapods like animals on Kerbin, due to the tetrapodal nature of the least common ancestor. Even many of the arthropods on Blalo have a similar body plan, albeit with exoskeletons rather than endoskeletons. Parasitic organisms are plentiful on Blalo, meaning that while it is good for the ecosystem, kerbals are advised to keep their suits on to avoid cross contamination with Blalean or Kerbal microbes.

## Moons

Blalo has four natural satellites; *Ito, Leyn, Rav,* and *Alar*. They all formed naturally via accretion around 5-6 billion years ago, when the Nova Kirbani system first formed. They all share a similar composition, although due to the distance from Blalo, different concentrations of minerals and silicates from countless impacts have altered each moons composition differently.

Ito is the innermost moon of the Blalo system, and acts as a small shepherd for Blalo's rings. As a result of this, Ito's surface is being constantly reshaped by constant impacts from debris from Blalo's ring system, including a very large equatorial ridge around the center of the asteroid moon.

Leyn is the second innermost of these moons, and it sports a large impact crater, likely related to the massive impact on Blalo. It's theorized that a large piece of debris kicked up by Blalo's impact hit Leyn in the recent past, causing its large impact basins.

Rav is the third moon of the system, and similar to Leyn, is heavily cratered and beat up. It has a slightly different color as a result of different concentrations of various minerals. It also has a large impact crater, however this one is known to be one of the oldest impact craters in the system. It's thought that, due to its position as the middle moon, it's shielded from most debris by Alar and Leyn. As a result, the massive impact crater has been left relatively unscathed, a by product of some ancient cataclysm for all to see.

Alar is the outermost and largest of the Blalean moons. It, like Leyn, has a moderately young surface. It acts as a guardian for the system, shielding Blalo from most impacts. Unlike the other two major moons, Alar doesn't have a massive impact basin. Rather, it has many thousands from a millennia of protecting the planetary system from asteroids and meteors from the greater Nova Kirbani system.

## Biomes

* Water
* Inland Water
* Inland Sea
* Savannah
* Desert
* Mountains
* Highlands
* Grasslands
* Tundra
* Giant Impact Basin
* Giant Impact Peak
* Impact Site 1
* Impact Site 2
* Northern Ice Cap
* Southern Ice Cap