Stayputnik

[Scarredclown]

I've unlock that new part in the career mode and i'm not sure what are its use, ? I know it's some kind of probe or unmanned capsule, but not sure how to use it.

Thx

[The Destroyer]

Make probes with it. There isn't much advantage to it other than the fact that its lighter, but it carries no crew and needs electriccharge to run.

[Tex]

It's a probe body, meaning you can make unmanned craft. Perfect for situations where you'd like 1-way crafts or missions to very dangerous spots.

[cantab]

When you've just unlocked it it's a bit limited because you need power to have control and you don't have any solar panels. With some rocket designs you could use it to deorbit your upper stage though.

Once you have some solar panels, you can use it for lightweight science missions. You won't get as much science from the same place as with a Kerballed mission since you can't do crew or EVA reports and can't keep multiple experimental runs, but you can make up for it by going further more easily.

[Vanamonde]

It can be used as a control part in the place of a crewed capsule, but it's lighter than a capsule, and no one dies if it crashes. Unless it crashes on someone.

[magnemoe]

When you've just unlocked it it's a bit limited because you need power to have control and you don't have any solar panels. With some rocket designs you could use it to deorbit your upper stage though.

Once you have some solar panels, you can use it for lightweight science missions. You won't get as much science from the same place as with a Kerballed mission since you can't do crew or EVA reports and can't keep multiple experimental runs, but you can make up for it by going further more easily.

Yes, you can also use it to control a rocket or lander while the kerbal is outside.

[Sirrobert]

Yes, you can also use it to control a rocket or lander while the kerbal is outside.

That's not an option if you don't have solar panels though, because having a probe body on your ship will mean it constantly drains electricity.

And when your ship runs out, you can no longer use reaction wheels to turn it.

So unless you brought RCS, you could no longer turn it

[SRV Ron]

Wait until you unlock solar panels. Then, you can use them for unmanned missions where a safe return may not be possible. Or for one way missions.

[K3achas]

Without solar panels or RTGs it has 6 minutes of charge. Using LV-30,45,N, skipper, poodle, aerospike, and mainsail engines will charge it though.

[cantab]

You can right-click it and disable the internal battery (you can do the same with the manned command pods and the stand-alone batteries), and can still re-enable it later. Think of it as like a hibernate mode. Combined with using an engine that has an alternator (so not the LV-909!), this means you can actually do unmanned missions before you've unlocked solar panels. You might not be able to transmit science mind since that'll instantly flatten the Stayputnik's tiny battery.

[Shna_na]

The Stayputnik is a particularly useful probe core, if you need multiple angles for attachment points. Because the top is spherical, there's a multitude of snap points that you can attach a barrage of small parts to, as well as angling the static solar panels correctly without the need for struts or awkward angling. It's also a particularly aerodynamic part when you're using mods such as FAR.