Science
Science, sometimes called science points, is needed to unlock new parts in the technology tree. It is obtained by performing different scientific activities at different locations and then either returning to Kerbin and recovering the craft or sending the scientific analysis home through an antenna.
Contents
Science activities
This is an overview of all science activities which can be performed and how results differ by biome and situation. Activities performed within one Sphere of Influence have no effect on the Science Points that can be earned doing science activities within the SOI of any other celestial body.
Biomes are areas of a body's surface defined by an additional map in KSP game data. Experiments may have different results when performed in different biomes; this means more opportunities for fresh Science Points. Currently[outdated] only the planet Kerbin and its moons, Mun and Minmus, are fully detailed with biomes; Eve and Laythe have simply "land" and "ocean" biomes.
Some combinations of activity and situation ignore biomes and give the same result wherever performed within an SOI; these combinations are marked " Global " in the table below.
Situations reflect whether your craft or Kerbonaut is on the ground (landed), in a body of water (splashed), or in one of four possible flight conditions within the SOI a celestial body.
An atmosphere is required for the situations Flying Low and Flying High and for using the PresMat Barometer and the Sensor Array Computing Nose Cone. Also, KSP only considers a craft (or Kerbal) to be in an atmospheric region if it is on a sub-orbital trajectory. For example, taking readings while aerobraking in the upper atmosphere will return data for the In Space Low situation instead of Flying High even if the altitude is below the edge of space.
Table of science activities and situations
The top row of the chart names each activity; the left hand column shows the six possible situations. Each intersection shows whether the activity is possible and, if so, whether it differs by biome or gives one result globally for the entire celestial body for a given situation. Activities and situations requiring an atmosphere are highlighted.
| Crew Report | EVA Report | Surface Sample | Science Modules | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mystery Goo™ Containment Unit | SC-9001 Science Jr. | 2HOT Thermometer | PresMat Barometer | GRAVMAX Negative Gravioli Detector | Double-C Seismic Accelerometer | Sensor Array Computing Nose Cone | ||||
| Surface: Landed | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome |
| Surface: Splashed | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | Biome | — | — |
| Flying Low | Biome | Biome | — | Global | Global | Biome | Global | — | — | Biome |
| Flying High | Global | Global | — | Global | Global | Global | Global | — | — | Biome |
| In Space Low | Global | Biome | — | Global | Global | Global | — | Biome | — | — |
| In Space High | Global | Global | — | Global | Global | — | — | Biome | — | — |
Mobile Processing Lab MPL-LG-2
The Mobile Processing Lab MPL-LG-2 improves the value of science data before transmitting it; it has no effect on data kept aboard. Crew Reports and EVA Reports have no penalty on transmitting them, so lab processing doesn't benefit these two. For others, it can squeeze out points from reports that at first have "+0.0 Science" value to transmit. It can also clean the Mystery Goo™ Containment Unit and SC-9001 Science Jr. to reuse them after transmitting or collecting data.
Both cleaning and processing required a certain amount of time and electric charge. Cleaning an experiment requires the same amount of energy as processing its report data.
Craft recovery
Recovering a craft after it landed on Kerbin also yields science points by itself. Its value depends on how far the craft flew. Recovering a craft after a suborbital flight returns less valuable (but different) results than one which orbited the Mun, for example. The returned value appears to be 5 * (surfaces visited + bodies orbited).
Celestial body multipliers
| Celestial body | Surface multiplier | Atmosphere multiplier | Atmosphere start | Low space multiplier | Low Space start [note 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | N/A | N/A | 11 | 1 Gm | |
| Moho | 9 | N/A | 8 | 80 km | |
| Eve | 12 | 7 | ~20 km | 7 | 400 km |
| Gilly | 9 | N/A | 8 | 6 km | |
| Kerbin | 0.3 | 0.7 | 18 km | 1 | 250 km |
| Mun | 4 | N/A | 3 | 60 km | |
| Minmus | 5 | N/A | 4 | 30 km | |
| Duna | 8 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 140 km |
| Ike | 9 | N/A | 8 | 50 km | |
| Dres | 8 | N/A | 7 | 25 km | |
| Jool | N/A | 7 | ~118 km | 7 | 4000 km |
| Laythe | 10 | 9 | ~10 km | 9 | 200 km |
| Vall | 10 | N/A | 9 | 90 km | |
| Tylo | 11 | N/A | 10 | 250 km | |
| Bop | 9 | N/A | 8 | 25 km | |
| Pol | 9 | N/A | 8 | ~21 km | |
| Eeloo | 9 | N/A | 8 | 60 km | |
- ↑ Many of these altitudes are taken from users reporting on the forum and not from game data itself.
Each celestial body has different multipliers applied to the collected scientific data, based upon where it is taken in relation to that body. Biomes do not affect these multipliers.
The altitudes given in this table determine the altitude above mean sea level of the boundary between lower and upper atmosphere and between near and outer space. The upper atmosphere extends to the atmospheric height and the outer space extends up to the end of the sphere of influence.
Getting science to Kerbin
To get the science to the Research and Development facility the report has to be in a part which stores it or transmitted with an antenna. The reports can be stored in the instruments they were created in, collected into an EVA suit or stored in a command pod. The command pod does not have to have a kerbonaut in it to store reports, but it must be capable of holding a kerbonaut. Probe cores can not store reports. It is possible to exchange reports between EVA suits and command pods freely but reports can only be collected from instruments. While on EVA, right click on an instrument or command pod and select "Take Data" to pick up a report. To save a report in a command pod, right click and select "Store Experiments" or have the kerbonaut board the command pod. A command pod can only hold one report of the same type and location at a time, although an EVA suit can hold multiple reports of the same type and situation. This can lead to extracting multiple reports on EVA which then needs to be destroyed except one when the kerbonaut wants to enter the capsule. After touch down on Kerbin the parts or kerbonauts can be recovered and the full scientific value gets added. Unlike transmission of science reports, there is no penalty for moving the report from an instrument to a command pod or from one command pod to another.
The other possibility is to transmit scientific reports back. This is possible at any time after creation. Usually there is a maximum value which can be transmitted listed as “transmission efficiency”, except for the crew and EVA report which have no penalty. With a lab it is possible to increase that efficiency. Some instruments are also locked after transmitting requiring a lab to clean them for reusability. Antennae don't require a line-of-sight to Kerbin and can be pointed in any direction to transmit. No data will be lost while transmission, and the current situation doesn't change the efficiency.
