Need help with my Jet that deploys temperature probes

[Keepbro]

So... I built this.

Its supposed to be a Jet that flies slowly over areas where I need to take temperature readings (or any readings actually) and deploys one of two probes equipped with scientific instruments that descend slowly to the ground via chute so that I can then later activate them through the Space Centre and get the required data.

But for some reason they disappear when I deploy them. I see them detach and the chutes open but after some time they just disappear. What am I doing wrong?

Edited February 26, 2015 by Keepbro

[eddiew]

Anything in flight between 0 and 20,000m altitude on an atmospheric planet, that's not your active vessel, will get deleted as it's assumed to have crashed. The game doesn't care whether or not it had a parachute.

You can see the probes for a while because there's a 2.3km radius around the active ship where anything that close will be loaded. If you want to drop things off, you need to be very low and very slow, so that they touch down before you're outside of that 2.3km. If you literally skim the treetops it might be possible.

Edited February 26, 2015 by eddiew
clarity

[Keepbro]

So fly very low and wait till it hits the ground. Check - thanks

[eddiew]

Maybe I haven't tried it myself, but in theory if it touches down while less than 2.3km away, the game will 'see' it land and mark it as safe. It might be easier to outright land the plane, but I'll be interested to know if you can make it work with an airdrop!

Outside 2.3km of the active craft, all other things are 'on rails' meaning that the game is only aware of its orbital trajectory, not of anything like parachutes or engines or control mechanisms - which is why anything getting too low in the atmosphere while not being active gets cleaned up.

[Keepbro]

So in testing at the Launch base I deployed the probe and circled in a 2km radius while it drifted down (which due to my crappy plane design was quite hard but still...). Once the probe was landed I then circled away and landed back on the runway.

So I can confirm that if you circle in 2km radius whilst the probe lands then it works in optimal conditions. Now I'm going to try this in the field. I have an artic mission to take scans so I'll see if it works in an actual mission.

[eddiew]

Good stuff - you just found a way to make non-space-planes more useful

Oh, and if you haven't encountered the Waypoint Manager mod, I heartily recommend it to help you bullseye those drop zones ^^