what planet gives the most science in the game

[James Kerman 2011]

I'm playing science mode and I was wondering what planet gives you the most science ?

[Vanamonde]

Your question has been moved to the Gameplay Questions sub since it's about the game rather than the real solar system. 

As for an answer, I don't know about total numbers but Mun has a bunch of biomes and is relatively easy to reach. In my career saves I clear almost all of the tech tree just by sending uncrewed probes to it. 

[king of nowhere]

Top is eve, followed shortly by duna.

 

mun has more biomes, but they are worth slightly less, and most important, mun does not have an atmosphere. there's so much science you can only do in atmospheres. just adding the "flying low" and "flying high" conditions is worth a lot.

both eve and duna have 14 biomes, and eve is worth slightly more - should be worth a lot more, with how difficult it is to get there. Eve also has seas, so you can perform different experiments in the same biome for the "landed" and "splashed down" conditions.

third place is laythe, for the same reasons. laythe has a lot less biomes - only 10 - but much higher science returns, though not high enough to compensate for 40% more biomes - at least by rought estimation.

following up at a distance are airless bodies. by a combination of science value and number of biomes, probably the order is eeloo > moho > tylo > vall > ike > dres > mun

mun actually scores quite low in this ranking. despite having the most biomes of all, it has very low science value; the same experiment on tylo is worth three times more than on mun.

 

that said, with normal - or even hard - settings, it is quite easy to unlock the full tech tree with nothing but mun missions.

[James Kerman 2011]

Ok Thanks! (ALRIGHT BOYS  FIRST STOP THE MUN THEN EVE)

[James Kerman]

26 minutes ago, James Kerman 2011 said:

Ok Thanks! (ALRIGHT BOYS  FIRST STOP THE MUN THEN EVE)

A design that can land and return from the Mun is also more that capable of landing and returning from Minmus, in case you need higher tech to land and return from Eve (which is the hardest planet to return from the surface).

Edit: The wiki lists all the planetary science multipliers here.

Edited June 9, 2022 by James Kerman
Added link

[Linkageless]

If you consider planetary systems, then Jool has plenty of biomes around on it's moons.  It may take you more time, but it's a lot easier to return from and you don't have to do the toughest bits like Tylo landing & return.

If you're content to just land unkerbaled on Eve and transmit your science for lower value, then a probe with heatshields and parachutes is easy enough.

A final consideration is that a good rover/hopper setup with lab(s) on Minmus surface will provide you all the science you'll ever need to unlock the tree.configurable

[jimmymcgoochie]

Science multipliers are only part of the story. Eve might give plenty of science per biome, but there aren't a huge number of them and several are pretty hard to reach due to much of the surface being covered by oceans.

If you're dropping single-use landers and need to maximise the science returned per vessel, somewhere with a high multiplier is a better choice, but if you're sending a mission that can move (e.g. a plane or rover) and/or that can return samples to Kerbin for the full reward then pick somewhere with many biomes such as the Mun. It's possible to complete the entire tech tree just by going to the Mun and scraping up all the available science from there, or even to complete the tech tree by exploring Kerbin itself and not even leaving low orbit.

 

[18Watt]

19 hours ago, king of nowhere said:

following up at a distance are airless bodies. by a combination of science value and number of biomes, probably the order is eeloo > moho > tylo > vall > ike > dres > mun

That’s probably a good list.  I would add Bop and Pol in there, because the multiplier is so high, and they are easy to reach.  Also, on those small moons it is very easy to reach multiple biomes.

While there may be a lot of science available on Eve, it is a bit challenging reaching more than three or four biomes.  And certainly more difficult to return from, at least for me.

[king of nowhere]

2 hours ago, 18Watt said:

That’s probably a good list.  I would add Bop and Pol in there, because the multiplier is so high, and they are easy to reach.  Also, on those small moons it is very easy to reach multiple biomes.

While there may be a lot of science available on Eve, it is a bit challenging reaching more than three or four biomes.  And certainly more difficult to return from, at least for me.

well, i made a list on which planets can give the most science if mined completely, because that's what the op was asking - i think? the question was a bit ambiguous.

bop and pol are low on the list because they have very few biomes.

if we ask what are the more practical planets to gather science, that's an entirely different question. in this case, minmus and mun take the cake just because they are so close and easy to reach, while eve sinks down for the technical difficulty of getting there

Edited June 9, 2022 by king of nowhere

[imcute]

jool 5 mission with a transmitter with science dropped into jool and inspecting eve if ur doing kekkj and minmus and mun for flyby