Things to keep in mind when expanding the contract system.

[Tw1]

At the moment, KSP is really more about engineering than science. Most of the contracts are engineering based- testing parts.

While this is fine, KSP would feel a lot more fleshed out if space science was better represented..

While it could equally be due to the fact that KSP is not fully developed, some of the simplicity in the science missions makes me wonder if there's a certain mentality in the dev team- after all, KSP was once a simple rocket building game.

I'd like to offer some things for the devs to think about when fleshing out the contracts in the future:

Astrobiology/Search for life.

The search for life on other planets is a big motivator behind many human space missions. Maybe the kerbals aren't as concerned as us about looking for life, but this sort of thinking could be used to come up with interesting contracts. Or at least, flavour text for contracts. Looking for life overlaps considerably with...

Astrogeology

At its core, science comes from (ker)man's desire to know. In this case, know how the solar system formed, know the processes that shape each planet, and what their conditions are like. On top of that, geological investigation is important in the search for life, by both determining if a planet could've been habitable in the past, and finding anomalous readings that suggest the presence of microbes.

Bio/geo overlap, so might the contracts. Some possible examples might be:

• We think _____ area on Duna might have once been suitable for life. Transmit five samples 1.8 Km. apart.
  
• From past data, Eeloo seems to have an underground sea. Look for evidence for this in the gas plumes it gives of. (pass over its south pole.)
  

These might be best unlocked once you've already at/been to the targets.

Radiophysics experiments

Those scientists can do a lot with the right radio beam. My favourite example is Cassini's relativity experiment. Something like that would be simple to set up in KSP:

• We don't quite understand the details, but ----- has come up with a way to test the theory of relativity. When a spacecraft orbiting the sun is opposite Kerbin, transmit a signal. We'll do the rest.
  

Or, this kind of contract could be more complex:

• Have two spacecraft in orbit around Jool. Have one transmit a signal. (You could add more specific orbital parameters to this.)
  

Read up on real life space missions-NASA and ESA have some great resources out there. Or why not just talk to NASA?

I know the devs probably don't read this forum regularly, but I hope this gets into the proper channels. Remember, science, not just engineering.

Edited July 23, 2014 by Tw1

[Commander Jebidiah]

I think this is a brilliant idea!

also first:D