Putting MPL in LKO

[Renegrade]

2 hours ago, FullMetalMachinist said:

Then it really just comes to a difference in play style. Instead of concentrating on Kerbin ground/flying science, I usually make orbit by my third rocket launch, and am flying a small rocket on a Mun flyby by the fifth. I don't really even touch planes before I've sent my first unmanned interplanetary prove. 

As for role playing, I would rather my Kerbal Space Program scientists work on science from space. 

That's one thing that's bugged me for a while: Why are we getting science at all from things like the KSC runway?

Surely the KSC isn't the only science institution on all of Kerbin (it's apparently not even the only space program -- those capsules in Minmus orbit have to get there somehow)?  Surely other people (well, kerbals) have already learned everything they can from samples from really bad dirt roads?

I much prefer the BTSM approach that ground and low altitude science provides absolutely zero science..it makes sense.  NASA and/or Roscosmos aren't going to be landing in my back yard anytime soon to take material samples from the goddamn barbecue.

[bewing]

4 hours ago, FullMetalMachinist said:

Then it really just comes to a difference in play style. Instead of concentrating on Kerbin ground/flying science, I usually make orbit by my third rocket launch, and am flying a small rocket on a Mun flyby by the fifth. I don't really even touch planes before I've sent my first unmanned interplanetary probe. 

As for role playing, I would rather my Kerbal Space Program scientists work on science from space. 

Yes, well, that sounds like an unrealistic progression to me. I concentrate on getting the scientific instruments first. Upgrading my facilities second. Getting some decently efficient engine tech third. Completing enough contracts to pay for all of those things fourth.

And my program ends up 100% in space just like yours after a couple Kerbin weeks leading up to it. It's still a Space Program. We all know what the second letter in NASA stands for, right?

Quote

That's one thing that's bugged me for a while: Why are we getting science at all from things like the KSC runway?

Because, IRL, science & engineering & technology does not come from space at all. You make technological progress by studying things on Earth. Also, science studies need control data. To find out why things are different elsewhere, you need to gather samples of everything that's "normal" to compare with. So gathering a mittenful of dirt from the grasslands is one of your control samples.

 

[bewing]

 

5 hours ago, Terwin said:

Something to consider:  Once you have the MPL unlocked, you can access the entire science tree without ever leaving the KSC again.

Just build a MPL into a 'hopper' that can hover on (jet) engines long enough to convert experiments into data, load it up with KSC data, lift off to process as needed and take it back to the runway/launch pad to recover it when it can no longer generate more science.  Recover for 100%(minus trivial amounts of fuel), and repeat.

Well, there are some minor technical difficulties with your suggestion (as I'm sure you understand). But the major problem would be time. Without ever leaving Kerbin, you can only have zero-star scientists. To generate 16000 science points in an MPL with two of them would take about a thousand Kerbin years. So yes, doing it that way eventually unlocks the tech tree without leaving KSC. That makes sense, because IRL that you could do that too.

5 hours ago, Terwin said:

Yes, I have performed experiments splashed down in the badlands after flying half way around Kerbin(it was part of my Caveman game), but now that I have done it once, I no longer find it an interesting challenge.

And I still say that career mode is supposed to include some grinding. It's not supposed to be all about "interesting challenge"s.

 

[Kerbart]

2 hours ago, Renegrade said:

I much prefer the BTSM approach that ground and low altitude science provides absolutely zero science..it makes sense.  NASA and/or Roscosmos aren't going to be landing in my back yard anytime soon to take material samples from the goddamn barbecue.

Obviously you don't know my wife's cooking. I expect them to show up with a geiger counter any day now.

[bewing]

12 hours ago, Terwin said:

Just build a MPL into a 'hopper' that can hover on (jet) engines long enough to convert experiments into data ....

Well, I went and faked up a hopper design as you suggested. I am very surprised that it ended up costing 1500 kash less than the jet. It also uses lower tech than the jet -- which is helpful. When it's hovering, it only uses 4 times more fuel than the jet. Again, I am very surprised.

It's a little annoying (of course) to get it moved to a permanent location during its first launch. But I think this is going to be the design I actually use. Thx.

[RW-1]

Ok, please dont bash me with the crowbar ... Well, ok ... maybe I'll enjoy it until I pass out ...

Is there any benefit in an MPL in orbit processing the Kerbin ground experiments versus a MPL on the ground?

Station a MPL at the complex and load it up, or make it a rover, flying vehicle that goes to the Kerbin biomes ...

Edited February 25, 2016 by RW-1

[Terwin]

23 hours ago, bewing said:

And I still say that career mode is supposed to include some grinding. It's not supposed to be all about "interesting challenge"s.

I suppose we will need to agree to disagree then, as I get plenty of grinding at my normal job and would rather stick with interesting challenges in my leisure time.

(quietly sweeps current 'training' mission (that visited every unvisited biome on both the Mun and Minmus to collect science) under a rug)

That is one of the reasons I have a UKS logistics hub 3 km from the KSC hooked up to a huge fuel reserve and a mining/refining apparatus: no need to send refuel missions inside the Kerbin SOI.

(versions with smaller fuel reserves will shortly be launched towards the Mun, Minmus, Gilly, Ike, and Vall)

[AbacusWizard]

On 2/24/2016 at 11:44 AM, Renegrade said:

That's one thing that's bugged me for a while: Why are we getting science at all from things like the KSC runway?

Surely the KSC isn't the only science institution on all of Kerbin (it's apparently not even the only space program -- those capsules in Minmus orbit have to get there somehow)?  Surely other people (well, kerbals) have already learned everything they can from samples from really bad dirt roads?

I much prefer the BTSM approach that ground and low altitude science provides absolutely zero science..it makes sense.  NASA and/or Roscosmos aren't going to be landing in my back yard anytime soon to take material samples from the goddamn barbecue.

You know, I was in full agreement with you until I got to the very last sentence, and then I realized that crashing a rocket in somebody's backyard and taking samples from the barbecue is exactly the sort of thing Kerbal scientists would do. (After all, you can never be sure that lighter fluid wouldn't work as rocket fuel until you try!)