Tutorial:Science mode
How it Works
In Career Mode your objective is to fill out the Tech Tree by gaining science. These are some strategies and explanations on how to be successful.
Basic Understanding
Science points are gained by doing experiments. The amount of science gained for each experiments depends on the location, type of experiment, and times you have already preformed the experiment. The type of experiment is determined by the equipment you use. The location depends on the biome, doing an experiment on the same biome will not yield different results. The more times you have used the same equipment, on the same biome, the less value there is in each experiment (this does not mean doing the same experiment more than once is not useful.)
Strategies
There are many ways to play a game, but these are some general guidelines for Career Mode.
First Launch
On your first launch you may want to get enough science to get the next tech tree node Basic Rocketry (in particular the TR-18A Stack Decoupler) to build more efficient rockets. A simple rocket with a single FL-T200 Fuel Tank, LV-T30 Liquid Fuel Engine, Mk16 Parachute, and Communotron 16 is enough.