SnowGibbon

It drops the science pods over the biome of choice before the pilot ejects (my kerbals haven't invented the wheel yet). The pods then gather the science when on the ground. Thanks for your replies on such short notice guys, I'm probably going to try the low altitude pass idea since I intended it to be a more precise method than dropping them willy-nilly from space. Peace out and keep an eye on your fuel, folks!

Hey guys, new-ish player here, first time posting here. In my career game I came up with a clever way to gather science on Kerbin - by putting detachable science pods onto a plane and parachuting them to the planet surface. Each pod consists of a Materials Lab, a Mystery Goo Container, a probe core and two radial parachutes. My only problem is that, After detachment and get 2km away from the host craft, the pods have a tendency to disappear from existence all together. After I've landed the craft, the tracking centre does not show them, neither as debris or probes. Doubling back over the drop point returns nothing. I've tested them by setting the probe core as the control point and watch it float its way down to the surface, leaving the plane to crash. The pod makes its way down without error, and with the addition of some batteries it has well enough charge to stay active past the duration of the host plane flight. I've tested this at altitudes of 20 000m and 5 000m and both are fine. So why are my probes vanishing into thin air? Does the game hate them because they're in atmospheric flight? Is it a bug? Is it the Kraken? I dunno. Thanks for your replies.