Are you supposed to max out science parts?

[Nightshredder]

Hello!

So I've recently started to play KSP and since I'm quite the rookie at it I will of course have questions, most are searchable but some are more difficult to find the answer to. Anyway as the title suggests I wonder if you're actually supposed to add large amounts of out science parts on to your space craft. I mean you can only gather science from a certain surrounding one time so why not max out the reward? The reason why I'm doubting it is all of the pictures I've seen of others creations where they only have maybe one goo container instead of 8. Also it looks kind of ridiculous.

So if it's true that you're only supposed to have maybe one or two science parts then why?

Thanks in advance!

Picture of what I mean by maxed out science: http://i.imgur.com/53vv6uw.jpg

Edited April 29, 2017 by Nightshredder

[technicalfool]

Really, how many instruments you attach to a craft depends on what you're going to do with it. There's nothing stopping you from attaching a whole load of instruments to a lander probe, going to Minmus, and hopping around collecting science from every biome before coming back.

If you're sending a crewed mission or an experiment container, a lot of the science instruments can have their data transferred out and used again. If you're sending the data back by transmitting it rather than returning it, that frees up the instrument to use again. In those cases you only need one of each instrument, and you can then transmit everything back to the KSC, or transfer the science to the command pod or experiment container and use the instrument again. The exceptions are the Goo Container and Science Jr that need a scientist to reset them after removing the data.

So whether you want to take your time picking each body clean of science, or do whole planets at once with some kind of science strip-miner is up to you, and your budget assuming you're playing career mode.

[Cpt Kerbalkrunch]

Welcome to the the forums, good sir.

As @technicalfool (a staff member, no less), failed to extend this courtesy, rest assured that he will be publicly flogged as a warning to others.

Now, on to your question. He was right, of course. As long as your craft is manned (with a Kerbanaut, not a tourist), after gathering science you can EVA, right-click on the part in question (as long as you're close enough), and hit "take data". When you reenter your command pod, the data is transferred to it. Each command pod can hold the data from each of your instruments (EVA and crew reports, too) from each biome that you visit. So you can gather all the science a planet/moon has to offer. You're only limited by your craft's ability to get there.

Edited April 29, 2017 by Cpt Kerbalkrunch

[Wanderfound]

Also keep in mind that you can crew a single-kerbal spacecraft with a scientist if you stash a probe core somewhere.

With a scientist aboard, you can clean out several biomes with a single set of science gear.

 

[HvP]

A few additional points to what the others have said. In the stock game there are a few experiments that cannot max out the science return value on the first reading. Goo canisters, science jr., surface samples, and I think a couple others will only collect about 60 to 70% of the total value on your first sample (if you are physically recovering the sample.) Bringing along an experienced scientist will increase this value, and you can store an extra copy in a duplicate of the experiment to further increase your return (with diminishing returns for each copy.)

Also, adding a science container pod to your craft will greatly streamline the process of collecting science, especially if you have a scientist on board. By right clicking on the science container you can auto-collect all of the science data from all the experiments on your craft without even getting out to do it. This also allows you to keep an extra copy of the same set of science data in the same situation: for example, take a reading with the mystery goo, transfer it to the science container, reset the goo container with a scientist. Now you can take another reading in the same place with the same goo container and then transfer that copy to your command pod, and you could even repeat the process to keep a third copy of the same reading in the goo container itself to return to Kerbin. You now have three copies of that situation's data which should basically max out the potential science you can harvest in that area for that experiment.

Edited April 29, 2017 by HvP