Questions on Science Labs & Fuel Transfers

[DucharmeHD]

I plan on having a science lab, and then a fuel tank in orbit around the mun.

I have a lander on the mun that is going to be collecting biomes, and I want a place to put the science.

My science lab is only accessible from the fuel tank, meaning, there is a docking port on the fuel tank, not directly on the science lab. Am I able to still transfer the science data from my lander to the science lab? Is the science lab a place to actually put the data, or is it just a place that can help get more science when transmitting? Does it act the same way as in a crew module can store the data?

Also, if there is a lander can in between the science lab fuel tank, and my lander's fuel tank, am I still able to transfer fuel?

Edited July 8, 2014 by DucharmeHD
grammar

[Frank_G]

Fuel transfer is no problem. Science isnt either, you can process, transmit and clean your experiments with the lab - it does not need a direct connection.

I dont know how it reacts when you have certain habitat mods like Connected Living Space installed, but in stock KSP this is possible.

[DucharmeHD]

Can I store data though? I don't really plan on transmitting it, because of the fact that i'll be bringing the science lab back to kerbin, and want all the science I can get.

Or can I just store all the data in my lander command module?

[SciMan]

Fuel tank? Check.

Docking ports? Check.

Science lab? Check.

You should be good to go. It doesn't matter where it is on a ship, you can always transfer fuel and other resources, and a science lab will always process any connected experiments.

Yes science labs can store science data. However the lab won't process stuff like crew and eva reports, so you will have to transfer that science data over to the lab manually. To do that, go on eva, right click the command pod and select "take experiments" if it shows up, then move over to the science lab and right click it, then select "store experiments". It actually took me longer to type that out than it would take me to do it in-game.

[AlexinTokyo]

You always have to transfer experimental data manually, regardless of type, so it doesn't matter how (or even whether) your science lab is connected. You'll still need to EVA a Kerbal over to transfer and store the data.

The good news is that the lab can hold more than one copy of a given experiment, unlike a command pod or lander can. So you can do a seismic scan (for example), take the data and store it in your lander can, then do another scan and leave the data in the scanner, and when you get back up to the orbital lab you can store both and return them, or process and transmit one and return the other.

To clean goo canisters and material bays in order to reuse them, you will have to dock the lander to the lab, but, as mentioned above they don't need to be directly connected.

[Kerba Fett]

You're collecting science the same way I do. The process to follow is this:

1. Go to the surface and collect samples.

2. Transmit anything that gives you 100% right away.

3. Pull the data from the experiment bays and put it in the pod. I usually do this when I go out for a surface sample.

4. Repeat in as many biomes as you have fuel for then return to the orbiting refuel station

5. Dock with the station and refuel the lander. (right click on one fuel tank then ALT right click on a second tank)

6. Right click on the mobile lab and clean the experiments.

7. Get your lander pilot to EVA. Right click on the lander pod and choose take data then go to the lab and right click and choose store data.

8. Get back in the lander and head back to the surface to do it again.

A few other tips:

You get more science points for transmitting a sample AND returning a sample than you do for just returning a sample. You should always transmit your first surface sample then go back outside and get another one.

If you've got enough experiment bays on your lander it's not a bad idea to do this with Goo and material observations as well.

While the lab may be able to hold 2 copies of the same data, it's unlikely you'll be taking the lab back to the surface of kerbin.

It's more practical to just send a small courier ship to pick up the data and return it to kerbin.

When you take data from the lab you can't choose which ones you want to take. It's all or nothing so if you've got duplicates you won't be able to board the courier ship unless you discard the duplicates.

Even if your courier ship did have 2 pods and you were able to take back the duplicates, I'm not sure you'd get credit for them when you recover the vessel on kerbin. It might just give you credit for the one of each data sample on the ship. I usually send a second courier for the duplicate data, but I suppose you could just separate one pod in orbit and land it separatly.

If you don't have much practice with Mun landings you might want to use this method to harvest science on Minmus first.

The science is worth more there. The gravity is a lot lighter so you use less fuel and your lander can carry more experiment bays. It's also not as hilly so that makes landing easier as well.

This is the setup I used for harvesting Minmus but it would also work on the Mun.

I used the 3 man pod since it gives me enough crew to use the lab and still be able to move the ship if I want to. Fuel capacity is the same as an orange tank and it carrys 4 of the larger RCS tanks radially mounted. The engine is a poodle.

Fully fueled it's pretty heavy so I sent it up half full. The booster stages got it a good AP and some of the orbital velocity while the poodle was able to finish making orbit.

I fueled it in LKO then moved it to Minmus. The lander went seperatly on it's own booster and transfer stage. If I were going to Duna I'd probably dock the lander to the nose of the mothership and just do 1 trip.

The mothership could completly refuel the lander 8 times, but the lander is never empty when you get back to the station. You run out of experiment bays before you run out of fuel.

Fully fueled the mothership has about 4000 dV and you burn just under a quarter of that getting to minmus.

The small ship docked above the lander is the courier. The docking port (sheilded) is on the bottom while a parachute is on the top. It's only engines are RCS thrusters. Once I did the transfer burn from kerbin, they were enough to enter Minmus orbit, dock with the station and get back to kerbin.

When returning to kerbin I use the RCS to drop my PE to about 35km to areobrake and land without needing a lot of fuel or thrust. (you want to set your PE just after leaving Minmus's SOI when it doesn't take much energy to do it.)

I'm not sure the RCS courier would work as well in Munar orbit. It takes more dV to enter or leave orbit of the Mun and the TWR of the RCS courier is pretty low.

Anyways, that setup worked great for harvesting minmus and you don't need to unlock too much of the tech tree before you can build it. (a single minmus landing got me enough science to build this for the second trip)

Edited July 9, 2014 by Kerba Fett