Can't recover science from experiments

[MisterTelecaster]

So my first assumption when I slapped a pod of mystery goo onto the side of my ship was that it would be stored in my command pod like an EVA report and whatnot. So I splashed Jeb and my command pod down safely, and recovered it to find that my only gain was +0.0 for recovering a vessel from low Kerbin orbit.

Alright, so maybe the pod of goo needs to make it back as part of the vessel.

I added a few extra parachutes onto my final stage and got rid of the decoupler between it and the command pod so the whole thing was one solid piece, and recovered that safely, mystery goo pods and all. Launched, saved data from the pods, landed, recovered, and not one point of science to show for it.

I've reinstalled KSP and started a new game, but that doesn't seem to have fixed anything, I still have the exact same problem.

I've also noticed that whenever I observe the goo pods after "saving" data, it doesn't ask me if I want to overwrite the old data like it does with crew observations. I presume this is because there is no data actually saved.

Has anybody else experienced this? Does anybody know any fixes? I've gotten the Science Jr. part and it has the same problem.

[KatzOhki]

If you click "observe goo" then you need to push the clipboard button to keep the data. Don't transmit the data. Then if you land the goo container successfully on Kerbin you must recover the craft with the tracking station or the recover button. So not restore flight.

[MisterTelecaster]

I never said I restored the flight, I said I clicked the save data button (the green clipboard) and then recovered my rocket. I got no science.

I can transmit the data properly and get science from it, but I'd rather recover it to not get the penalty. But recovery doesn't work for me.

[jmt]

I wonder if you made the same mistake that I did, and put the pod on a rocket stage that you jettisoned before reentry? You must actually bring the pod back to the ground attached to your crew module, and then recover the flight.

[spun430]

Are you closing your experiments after? Logically you'd think you'd need to close everything up for reentry, but that will reset the info thus losing it. You need to just use each item once if you plan to return with the results and then just leave it be and recover. I did the same thing learning by trial and error each time getting back w/ very little or no science.

[MisterTelecaster]

I wonder if you made the same mistake that I did, and put the pod on a rocket stage that you jettisoned before reentry? You must actually bring the pod back to the ground attached to your crew module, and then recover the flight.

If you read my post you'll notice that I already tried putting it on the same stage and that didn't work.

Are you closing your experiments after? Logically you'd think you'd need to close everything up for reentry, but that will reset the info thus losing it. You need to just use each item once if you plan to return with the results and then just leave it be and recover. I did the same thing learning by trial and error each time getting back w/ very little or no science.

If I leave the window open I can recover the data, but it seems odd to me that I can't just click Save Data like I can with everything else such as EVA reports and Crew Reports, and that I have to leave the window open for my entire flight back to Kerbin.

[spun430]

If I leave the window open I can recover the data, but it seems odd to me that I can't just click Save Data like I can with everything else such as EVA reports and Crew Reports, and that I have to leave the window open for my entire flight back to Kerbin.

Not the ui window, just the device doors..

1. Go to location

2. Observe Materials Bay/Mystery Goo

3. Keep Data

4. Return to Kerbin

5. Recover Craft

I would keep resetting the data before I returned, assuming that when I hit "Keep Data" it would save it on a log and I could re-observe...

[progressiveMonkey]

Hi all,

I had the same problem, and believe I'm moving towards a solution, although some things still aren't clear. Now, to get science you need to either recover the experiment's equipment (e.g. mystery goo container) or to have a kerbal check the instrument and store the results in the pod. The latter is a hassle, so I was trying and failing to recover data from recovered ships.

Then I noticed that my ship consistently breaks upon splashdown ; I then made a vehicle with pods and made a quick test where I had it fire upwards to an altitude of ~10km, perform some science and then jettison everything but the science modules and the command pod, and land at the KSC with a parachute. I was able to recover science from this flight. Next thing, I flew the exact same vehicle to orbit, performed science, and wanted to have it land on the ground rather than in water. I did that, but landed in the steppes west of the KSC for convenience. And there, even though I landed perfectly, I wasn't able to recover anything.

Now I'm about out of ideas. Does anyone have a reliable way to recover data from, say, an observation of the SC-9001 in orbit around Kerbin??

[Claw]

Hi all,

I had the same problem, and believe I'm moving towards a solution, although some things still aren't clear. Now, to get science you need to either recover the experiment's equipment (e.g. mystery goo container) or to have a kerbal check the instrument and store the results in the pod. The latter is a hassle, so I was trying and failing to recover data from recovered ships.

Then I noticed that my ship consistently breaks upon splashdown ; I then made a vehicle with pods and made a quick test where I had it fire upwards to an altitude of ~10km, perform some science and then jettison everything but the science modules and the command pod, and land at the KSC with a parachute. I was able to recover science from this flight. Next thing, I flew the exact same vehicle to orbit, performed science, and wanted to have it land on the ground rather than in water. I did that, but landed in the steppes west of the KSC for convenience. And there, even though I landed perfectly, I wasn't able to recover anything.

Now I'm about out of ideas. Does anyone have a reliable way to recover data from, say, an observation of the SC-9001 in orbit around Kerbin??

Are you using any mods?

And when the craft touched down on the ground, did anything break off?

Two things:

1) Make sure that whatever experiment you are doing, you haven't done it a bunch already. If you already did those experiments, you wont get much (if any) science.

2) If things do break off of your ship, but aren't destroyed, you can still recover the debris and get the science. You can recover debris the same way you do any other vessel. Just remember to turn on the filter at the top of the screen if you use the tracking station or map mode.

As for a "reliable way," I would say you either have a mod that is interfering or something else is going slightly wrong. If you safely land a vessel with science on board, you don't have to do anything special to recover the science other than clicking on the "Recover Vessel" button. Make sure you are not "Terminating." That simply deletes the flight.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Claw

[Pauly]

Pictures or a video of the flight and recovery would help otherwise we are all just guessing at what is going wrong.

[progressiveMonkey]

Oh... my (big big) bad. I was resetting the materials bay experiment, thinking it would allow me to do it several times in one flight, while it just got rid of all the data...

Anyway thanks for your help everyone!

[Apollo13]

Oh... my (big big) bad. I was resetting the materials bay experiment, thinking it would allow me to do it several times in one flight, while it just got rid of all the data...

There are canisters (mods) that you can attach to your command module to store experiments. For instance, you could read the Goo. then EVA to remove it from the Goo container and store it in the canister. Then, reset your Goo container to use further along in your flight. You'll use that technique a lot when going to Mun, Minmus, and the planets. Allows you to return more science.

There are other mods that will permit you to transfer the science from the Goo Container to the canister without an EVA.

[Alistone]

Just wanted to confirm you are in career mode. If you are in sandbox mode then everything gives 0 science because science is irrelevant in the sandbox.

[NanoOps]

On 10/18/2013 at 9:43 PM, spun430 said:

Not the ui window, just the device doors..

1. Go to location

2. Observe Materials Bay/Mystery Goo

3. Keep Data

4. Return to Kerbin

5. Recover Craft

I would keep resetting the data before I returned, assuming that when I hit "Keep Data" it would save it on a log and I could re-observe...

but do you have to recover the science experiments or can you leave it to die a fiery death when u recover the vessel

 

[Snark]

Hi @NanoOps , and welcome to the forum!

5 minutes ago, NanoOps said:

but do you have to recover the science experiments or can you leave it to die a fiery death when u recover the vessel

So, just a side note: This thread is really old, from 2014, and the game has been through many revisions since the people who posted here wrote what they did. Accordingly, I'd advise against reading too much into such an old thread-- if you've got questions, better to start your own thread. Accordingly, locking this one to prevent further confusion.

In answer to your question, though: if you have a science instrument that contains a measurement, and you want to get credit for that by retrieving it on Kerbin, then there are basically two ways. One way is to recover the instrument itself, i.e. have the instrument still be on your ship when you land, and then recover the ship. The other way is to collect the science from the instrument, either using the "science box" part or by sending a kerbal on Eva to remove the science, and then retrieve that. If you've gotten the science out of the instrument, then you no longer need to recover the instrument itself.