Penalty for transmitting science

[jmt]

Can somebody point me to an explanation of how the penalties work for transmitting science results? It seems at first glance that if I do some Science and transmit back the results, and then subsequently repeat the same Science but bring the craft back intact, that I will NOT get as many points as if I did the experiment just once and brought the craft back intact. Am I right there? Obviously I would hope that I am not, but it seems that I get so many less points the second time round that this might not be the case.

The scenario I'm obviously thinking about is: do I send a one-way unmanned probe somewhere first, or do I wait until I can send a return mission to get the full benefit from the science. Is anyone able to confirm? It's not a particularly easy thing to test out by hand...

Edited October 18, 2013 by jmt

[halbert5150]

Yes you are right. Each time you repeat an experiment in identical circumstances you get diminished returns. Transmitting reports always give you a penalty as well. Only the crew reports will give you 100% return for transmissions. Otherwise its always best to bring the rocket back to Kerbin.

I do think the career system as is favors manned missions above unmanned but I haven't played far enough to test that out.

[jmt]

Looks like there's another thread already that answers this - I had searched for "science" but not "radio transmissions"...

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/53170-Science-Question-When-How-do-diminished-returns-kick-in-with-radio-transmissions/