firefueled

Yeah. This would benefit both game play and realism. The instrumentation science could simply be stored on a probe, while the live experiments, in a "canister".

The ability to store experiments on probes is a small change that would impact hugely on game play. The objective here is, while on a far away manned mission, send all the experiments you gathered back to Kerbin, on a much smaller and lighter craft. An alternative to storing science on probes is to provide a small, light-weight science storage unit that can be attached to a probe. The unit would draw a constant amount of electricity, to preserve the experiments. This option would open the possibility to go a very long exploration mission carrying a bunch of small probes, which could be sent back periodically as you gathered science. Wouldn't it be fun to be on the ground of Eve and watch you little science-filled probe shoot up to the sky, relatively effortlessly, on it's merry way back to Kebin?

I agree completely with the OP. Right now, I'm launching kerbals into nothingness, randomly picking a spot to transmit the data and hoping the amount of science I got is high enough. Its become a lottery. The only difference is that when I'm lucky, I can't get the money because I'm out of electricity.

I was going to create a thread but you are touching on the two main things I wanted to say. It is frustrating to not know what I have to do to gain science and there is no explanation on when I should transmit the data. There seems to be a data transmission "meta/mini-game" that is not obvious. Data transmission costs way too much and electricity available is way too scarce. I have unlocked the first item on the 45-science-tier but have 4 kerbals, with more than 80 science in total on them, dead or stranded due to lack of electricity to transmit data or use on the SAS. On my last flight, I sent a second ship to Mün, with as much electricity as possible, to try and recover the data the first ship had gathered and wasn't able to transmit. I didn't know if the data gathered by the first one was going to decrease the amount the second would be able to get. I didn't know if I could send the data the first one got via the second ship. I didn't know if I could even make it to the same spot a second time. The only thing I did know was that I would not be able to send all the data both ship had. In the end, the time spent to get the second ship close to the first and finally send the data got me 16 science. Frustrating. How to fix this: Make very clear how to gain and when to more efficiently transmit data. Decrease the amount of electricity used to transmit. Make solar panels, or batteries, available right at the start (I noticed I was going to have problems with electricity on the first flight).