probe surface samples

[r4pt0r]

i think there should be a stock knockoff of a kethane mining drill so probes can obtain surface samples. i don't play with kethane myself, but i saw a pic of a radially mounted drilling apparatus and figured that's gotta be similar to what NASA uses on curiosity for example. just my idea. didnt see this in the "do not suggest"

[Sirrobert]

Let's leave something for the Kerbals to do

[Eric S]

Let's leave something for the Kerbals to do

To be honest, with the latest changes there's little reason to do probe missions. Having one less difference is fine in my opinion.

In 0.22, the difference between a manned and unmanned mission science-wise was the lack of EVA reports, crew reports, and surface samples. In 0.23, however, probe missions took a hit because you have to return now, repeated transmissions can't compete with actual returns. Furthermore, the ability to move results to the capsule via EVA means that even with a single thermometer, you can get full value return results from multiple locations for a manned mission, but the probe is still stuck with at most one return per thermometer. Manned missions can use the same thing to ditch the mat-sci and goo container parts, returning significantly less mass to Kerbin, but still get full return value for those experiments.