Lost science

[MerlinsMaster]

Hey Guys,

So I sent a ship to the Mun with a bunch of goo containers and science jr's, collected a lot of science, but because I don't have enough fuel, I can't bring the ship home.

Can anyone tell me what happens to all that science? Because if I send another ship to run those experiments again, there's hardly any science gained because I already ran those experiments. Is the science that I got the first time lost forever?

Edited October 11, 2014 by MerlinsMaster

[Geschosskopf]

The value for science obtained by a given experiment in a given location does NOT change until the results get back to KSC. So for example, you can expose like 6 goos in the same place at the same time and the pop-up reports will all show the same value, which is the same value as if you'd only exposed 1 there. But when you get back to Kerbin with them, the science per experiment will be scored via the diminishing returns so only the 1st will get the initially reported value, the 2nd will get rather less, the 3rd will get almost all that remains, the 4th will get the last few points, and the 5th and 6th will get nothing.

So, you have 3 choices, really.

1. Abandon the 1st ship. It doesn't matter that its goos are full of data because that data hasn't gotten back to KSC yet. Send a second ship with more fuel this time, repeat the mission, and fly the 2nd ship back. You get all the science.

2. Assuming the 1st ship is intact, you can fly a 2nd ship to it, EVA the Kerbal, have him remove the data and store it in the 2nd ship, return the 2nd ship, profit.

3. Send a rescue mission to pump fuel into the 1st ship (via KAS or docking as needed), fly 1st ship home, profit.

[MerlinsMaster]

1. Abandon the 1st ship. It doesn't matter that its goos are full of data because that data hasn't gotten back to KSC yet. Send a second ship with more fuel this time, repeat the mission, and fly the 2nd ship back. You get all the science.

Okay, that's what I was hoping. I wasn't sure because I had sent another ship, and ran some more experiments and it didn't seem like I was getting as much. I must have been mistaken, and of course I didn't take screenshots of the second trip.

2. Assuming the 1st ship is intact, you can fly a 2nd ship to it, EVA the Kerbal, have him remove the data and store it in the 2nd ship, return the 2nd ship, profit.

Does that work for the mystery goos and the science jr's, or just the crew and EVA reports?

3. Send a rescue mission to pump fuel into the 1st ship (via KAS or docking as needed), fly 1st ship home, profit.

No docking ports yet, unfortunately.

[Geschosskopf]

Does that work for the mystery goos and the science jr's, or just the crew and EVA reports?

It worrks with any type of data. Except that pods can only hold 1 copy of each type of experiment from the same location. So if you did multiple goos in the same place, you can only store 1 in the pod. OTOH, you can send a mobile lab as the 2nd ship, which has no such restriction.

[MerlinsMaster]

It worrks with any type of data. Except that pods can only hold 1 copy of each type of experiment from the same location. So if you did multiple goos in the same place, you can only store 1 in the pod. OTOH, you can send a mobile lab as the 2nd ship, which has no such restriction.

Ah, good to know. Out of all the things to learn about KSP, the process of collecting science has been the most difficult to wrap my head around. I'm understanding it a bit better now, but I think I'll give your science tutorial a second read anyway.

[Enclose]

No docking ports yet, unfortunately.

I'm still pretty new and quite frankly, suck at docking. But I found an easier way to transfer fuel, using the grabbing unit (the claw). Make a ship that can carry some spare fuel and put a claw on it, then just fly into your fuel-less ship so you grab it. Fuel can be transferred through the claw into the other ship.

Thats my main method of transferring fuel from craft to craft at the moment, until I become a bit better at docking

[nine_iron]

Just because reactions have been going on for billions of years did not mean we understood them UNTIL we got them into the lab!

Same thing here applies

[MerlinsMaster]

I'm still pretty new and quite frankly, suck at docking. But I found an easier way to transfer fuel, using the grabbing unit (the claw). Make a ship that can carry some spare fuel and put a claw on it, then just fly into your fuel-less ship so you grab it. Fuel can be transferred through the claw into the other ship.

For real? I had no idea you could do that with the claw. That's amazing, and I can't wait to try that. Of course I will have to wait, because I haven't unlocked that either.

Thats my main method of transferring fuel from craft to craft at the moment, until I become a bit better at docking

Are you using Navyfish's Docking Port Alignment Indicator? If not, I should tell you that it makes docking a hundred times easier.