mobile processing lab question

[putnamto]

so i built a small(ish) rover and i drove around the ksc getting all the science their and i have a few questions about the mobile science lab.

i have a kerbal pilot driving the thing, and a scientist in the lab, if i go with just one kerbal i cant science and drive at the same time, this is expected right?
so when i did my experiments(goo science jr, etc) i clicked the green beaker instead of transmit or keep, did i do that right?
then after that i cleaned the experiments, and moved on to the next biome.
i got all of them and then clicked start research, now i just sit and wait?
does it keep researching even if its not the active vessel? what about in the VAB?

[Gargamel]

5 minutes ago, putnamto said:

now i just sit and wait?

Yup.

5 minutes ago, putnamto said:

does it keep researching even if its not the active vessel

Yup.

6 minutes ago, putnamto said:

what about in the VAB?

Huh?  I think you are asking does it do science while you are in the VAB building something else?  No it doesn't, because time is not passing while you are in the VAB/SPH and a couple other buildings.  It does pass (and hence Science!) while you are in the tracking station or KSC view. 

 

A really good bit of info (if possibly dated) on the science labs and how they do the science stuff is the wiki:  https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Mobile_Processing_Lab_MPL-LG-2

[Rauko]

The MPL has some modifiers so that is almost useless while landed on kerbin. It generates 10 times more science while in orbit, or landed in other body.

You have to store experiments into the lab (not into the pod), and when you review those, a yellow button appears. Click it to generate science from that experiment. Do it with several experiments at same time.

[bewing]

1 hour ago, putnamto said:

so i built a small(ish) rover and i drove around the ksc getting all the science their and i have a few questions about the mobile science lab.

i have a kerbal pilot driving the thing, and a scientist in the lab, if i go with just one kerbal i cant science and drive at the same time, this is expected right?

To process experiments into data you must have a scientist in the Lab, and scientists in Labs can't drive, that's right.

1 hour ago, putnamto said:

so when i did my experiments(goo science jr, etc) i clicked the green beaker instead of transmit or keep, did i do that right?

In general, yes. However, there is a problem with your location. The yellow beaker will tell you how much data you will get for your experiments, and if you look at it before you click it, you will see that it says "zero".

1 hour ago, putnamto said:

then after that i cleaned the experiments, and moved on to the next biome.
i got all of them and then clicked start research, now i just sit and wait?
does it keep researching even if its not the active vessel? what about in the VAB?

Once you have the MPL full of data, yes, you make sure you have more than 5 units of EC coming in every second and you click Start Research and wait. It will produce science points automatically that you usually must transmit (using an antenna) back to KSC.

But if you open the context menu for the MPL, there is a line of text in there where it tells you how much data you have stored. And it will say zero.

For the MPL, you need to know that you get different amounts of points depending on where the MPL is when you click the yellow beaker. And Kerbin is special. Your MPL must be in orbit around Kerbin before you will get any points at all. So you have to figure out how to get all your experiments into the MPL, and then launch that MPL into orbit -- or put an MPL in orbit and then figure out how to get all the experiments up to it. You basically can't any science points out of an MPL on Kerbin's surface (or in the atmosphere).

 

[putnamto]

what if i take the experiments i have now, then take those up to orbit before research? i dont think that would make a difference.

so i should just put one in a polar orbit and science over each biome right.

im actually thinking a polar orbit is a bad idea unless i have alot of batteries, would be wiser to keep it beetween the sun and kerbin(what is that, stationairy orbit?)

Edited May 4, 2018 by putnamto

[Superfluous J]

5 minutes ago, putnamto said:

what if i take the experiments i have now, then take those up to orbit before research? i dont think that would make a difference

It does. The lab doesn't care where the experiments came from (except it won't do copies so you have to bring new experiments to it). It only cares where it is.

So a crew report from the launch pad gets more lab use in orbit of Minmus, than the Minmus crew report would on the launch pad.

[putnamto]

thanks

now im going to use kis to build my rover into a shuttle, then watch it fail horribly because i need my stats int he vab to build something.

what was the rate of electrical usuage? somebody else said it but i cant find it, was it 5/s or something?

so, if i build another ship, then is their a way to transfer all the experiments from the one i have on the ground, to the one that im going to send to orbit?

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by putnamto

[bewing]

You need to understand that there is a difference between experiments and data. Experiments are what you have when you click the "Keep" button on your experiment dialog window. Data is what you have when you click the yellow Beaker button.

Experiments can always be moved from one vessel to another by a kerbal on EVA. Once you have converted an experiment into data, the experiment is gone. All you have is data. Data can not be moved from the lab that it is in.

To find out how many experiments you have stored in some location, click the "Review Reports" button in the context menu. To find out how much data you have in a Lab, look at the text about Data in the MPL's context menu.

 

 

[putnamto]

ah, thanks

ill build a new rover, collect science, bring it to the ship, then launch it.

[Curveball Anders]

I actually did an awfully ugly science hogging stunt by using a rover with available science stuff and a science container, drove around KSC with a scientist to collect as much data I could. Then I put my science lab / station on the launchpad, drove up to and docked! (jr docking ports on both boosters and rover),uploaded all data to the lab, undocked and recovered the rover before finally launching  the preloaded lab into orbit.

It's was a ugly, messy and almost cheaty way, but it worked

[Gargamel]

11 hours ago, Curveball Anders said:

I actually did an awfully ugly science hogging stunt by using a rover with available science stuff and a science container, drove around KSC with a scientist to collect as much data I could. Then I put my science lab / station on the launchpad, drove up to and docked! (jr docking ports on both boosters and rover),uploaded all data to the lab, undocked and recovered the rover before finally launching  the preloaded lab into orbit.

It's was a ugly, messy and almost cheaty way, but it worked

My  MJ, hyper edit, auto pilot, For Science!, Vessel Mover, KER modded game looks at you and sneers.   :D.   Well played.    

(Psssst.  I use KEI, and it thought that was cheaty too :P)

 

I only sneer cause I'm jealous. 

[bewing]

It was harder before the "Collect all" function got implemented. You had to go perform all the experiments, then a kerbal had to gather them all into his pockets, and then somehow manage to climb into a Science Lab rocket ship that was just about to blast into orbit.