What to do with your Science Data.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

This Thread is not about, how to spend your Science Points in the Techtree.

This is about how to get the max, amount of Science out of your Data for the least amount of effort.

Let's see, if I am wrong about the current behavior of the Science Lab, which I like very much.

I recently placed a Science Lab on a polar Orbit around Minmus and had a small Lander shuttle between the Surface and the Lab, collecting Data and had it processed in the Lab.

What I havent gotten my head around was: if a Science Experiment you bring back from a planet/moon has i.e. a value of 100 science points and I have it processed in the lab, the Lab creates a copy of it and stores it withing itself up to 500 units of science-data but still gives you the science report back with it's initial 100 science points that you can bring back to Kerbin.

Right?

So... instead of spreading science labs throughout the Kerbol-System, how about to put one or an array of them next to the KSC, so you dont even have to place them into Orbit of Kerbin.

All you have to do is, place the science you gathered on your Mission (Scientists can render used Goo-Cans and Science-Bays reuseable on EVA) into the Pod, deorbit it on Kerbin. Pick up the data with a plane before you recover the craft and bring the Data to the Labs on the KSC.

Process your data in the Lab, take it out again and recover the Kerbal or Plane that carries it.

Please correct me if I am wrong, as i am about to got interplanetary in one of my careers

Also feel free to share your Science Lab Constructions.

Edit: I also think that the Science-Rate/Day can be upgraded by adding more Scientists in Hitchhiker Containers to the Craft with the Lab on it.

Dont know if that is a bug or a Feature.

Edited May 11, 2015 by MalfunctionM1Ke

[regex]

I, too, am interested in how this works.

[MKI]

I could of swore the Data per day thing is affected of where the science lab is. I haven't tested this enough, nor have I had enough time to test this out or get that far in career mode myself.

I would argue that picking up the science data manually with say a plane is a whole another mission in itself. And time wise I would rather dock with a station around Kerbin to deal with the data there. But that might not be possible as it takes more planning and Delta-V to rendezvous with the station in orbit.

I also am curious as to how the Science Per day is affected in general. Its one of those new features that is more or less shrouded in mystery with little talk on how it really works.

[Kevin Wing]

The value an experiment has as data in a science lab depends on where it is converted into data.

So, by steps:

Step 1, do experiment

Step 2, move experiment to lab

Step 3, convert experiment into lab data using the green bubbly flask icon

Step 4, do science (aka wait/warp)

Step 5, transmit science home.

Key bits:

In Step 3, when you click that flask the Data value of the experiment depends on what planet you are on when you click it. If it is on Kerbin it’s tiny, other places have more value. Also if the experiment is processed on the planet it was taken on it’s worth more data. And, if the MPL is on the surface it’s worth more data than if it’s processed in orbit (except on Kerbin, the opposite there).

Also, the lab can only hold 500 data at a time, so you may hold experiments to process at a later date. Since you can’t convert all the science to data at once I let it sit on the ship for a long time. So it is ready when I need it. Usually by then I can have the data back home and end up never transmitting the experiment.

What I do is land a MPL, and a separate ship that does science, doing two of every experiment, then sending one of them to the MPL and returning the other home. I do this with an extra pod on the lander, so I can store two copies of everything.

What I’d like to test but have not tested yet, is if you process an experiment on one MPL then transfer it to another, can you process it again for data?

Hope that helps.

[Xaver]

I had read in the wiki that you get higher values when the lab is on the surface of a celestial body except kerbin. It brings also higher values if the science data is from the body it was collected from.

[bmyers831]

It works totally differently now. You can still process experiments and send them back for more science than you would normally get but the lab can now sit at a location and generate science points over time.

on mun it generates .23333 per day and maxes out at 500pts.

Here is a good demo (not me in the vid)

Start at 5:45 Edited May 11, 2015 by bmyers831

[Xaver]

The level and the number of scientists counts for the rate.

[arkie87]

This Thread is not about, how to spend your Science Points in the Techtree.

This is about how to get the max, amount of Science out of your Data for the least amount of effort.

Let's see, if I am wrong about the current behavior of the Science Lab, which I like very much.

I recently placed a Science Lab on a polar Orbit around Minmus and had a small Lander shuttle between the Surface and the Lab, collecting Data and had it processed in the Lab.

What I havent gotten my head around was: if a Science Experiment you bring back from a planet/moon has i.e. a value of 100 science points and I have it processed in the lab, the Lab creates a copy of it and stores it withing itself up to 500 units of science-data but still gives you the science report back with it's initial 100 science points that you can bring back to Kerbin.

Right?

So... instead of spreading science labs throughout the Kerbol-System, how about to put one or an array of them next to the KSC, so you dont even have to place them into Orbit of Kerbin.

All you have to do is, place the science you gathered on your Mission (Scientists can render used Goo-Cans and Science-Bays reuseable on EVA) into the Pod, deorbit it on Kerbin. Pick up the data with a plane before you recover the craft and bring the Data to the Labs on the KSC.

Process your data in the Lab, take it out again and recover the Kerbal or Plane that carries it.

Please correct me if I am wrong, as i am about to got interplanetary in one of my careers

Also feel free to share your Science Lab Constructions.

Edit: I also think that the Science-Rate/Day can be upgraded by adding more Scientists in Hitchhiker Containers to the Craft with the Lab on it.

Dont know if that is a bug or a Feature.

As Kevin Wing said, you dont earn as much if the lab is on Kerbin.

I dont really like how the science labs work. I'd rather it just increase transmit efficiency to 100% (or 80% and require a scientist on board to collect 100%).

Science over time is a bit silly since you need to time warp (either deliberately, or by accident).

[problemecium]

on mun it generates .23333 per day and maxes out at 500pts.

I've exceeded that in Kerbin orbit and exceeded 0.4 points per day in Mun orbit, so this isn't the maximum value.

My findings so far:

- an "empty" Science lab with no data in it will generate 0 Science per day, even with two Scientists and even if placed somewhere interesting like space or Munar orbit.

- processing experiments increases the amount of data in the lab, and the processed experiments do not need to be saved (so they can be transmitted, removed, or deleted without removing any of the data)

- the more data is in it, the faster the lab generates Science. So far the trend seems to be that the farther one goes from KSC, the more data a given experiment yields, similar to how its Science value increases. So I'd presume that since the lab can only hold 500 data, it will yield the maximum Science rate if it is filled with the most valuable experiments possible.

[Kevin Wing]

This is a better write-up than I could swing together in the few minutes I spent on it when I posted earlier:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/119620-Care-and-Feeding-of-your-MPL-LG-2-Mobile-Processing-Lab-in-1-0-How-to-be-a-science-farmer?p=1908587&viewfull=1#post1908587

[rockbloodystar]

On 12/05/2015 at 0:05 AM, Kevin Wing said:

The value an experiment has as data in a science lab depends on where it is converted into data.

So, by steps:

Step 1, do experiment

Step 2, move experiment to lab

Step 3, convert experiment into lab data using the green bubbly flask icon

Step 4, do science (aka wait/warp)

Step 5, transmit science home.

Can step 5 be bring lab home and recover vessel? 

[Kerbal-Willie]

I'm sure most know this but I just found out I can break the electric charge readout on my MPL. Im landed on Minmus and during normal time speed I will run out of my batteries half-way through the night. But if I time warp 10, 000-100, 000 I will stay fully charged through each night.

I don't know whats not keeping track, but after a full days test on both im receiving more data processed on warp then not.

pssst, don't tell the devs

[Laie]

10 hours ago, Kerbal-Willie said:

normal time speed I will run out [...] But if I time warp [...] I will stay fully charged through each night.

That's normal and AFAIK even desired. Running out of juice every so often would force you to micromanage timewarp and consumers; besides, tracking the available sunlight of an unloaded vessel (while you are elsewhere) is not trivial, so one could always cop out by leaving it and only coming back once the tanks were full. Making attended vessels work in a similar fashion was considered the lesser of two evils.

[Dman979]

This thread is quite old, and some mechanics might have changed since the OP. If you'd like to talk more about it, please feel free to start a new thread.