How the MPL(Mobile Processing Lab) can be used.

[Yosh]

Hello Kerbal community. I, like so many others before me, am trying to understand how the MPL works, and what its practical uses are in entirety. Naturally I have already looked around online, and on the steam forum regarding information on the MPL, but I am still unclear on its limitations. So, I'm here to ask how the MPL works, but I'm going to ask it in a form that might make it clearer to me and others.

QUESTIONS:

In theory, could I get 100% science credit from every biome on a particular planet/moon(including reports) using a single rover with 3 crewman, a MPL, a solar panel(s), and all the science equipment in the game attatched to it? If not, why? (Barring land formations.)

How do you think the MPL is best used?

[HoloYolo]

The MPL (as you refer it) is used to get more science out of expriments. Really usefull for science spam.

[Xcorps]

I built a small station in High Munar Orbit, just below escape with a fuel tank, lab, hitchhiker, and RCS loads.

Then I build an exploration ship consisting of a lander with all the available experiments I had. The lander had something like 2500 dv.

I sent the lander to Mimmus, conduct experiments, head for the Lab and scrub. Leave the science in the lab, refuel, head back to Minmus and repeat. After a few trips, I sent a "fetch" mission to the lab and recovered the science and took it back to Kerbin. Then I used the lander for missions on Mun. I had to refuel the station 4-5 times. It was a little close with the Mun missions, but the Minmus missions worked fine.

I think my next station is going to be at high Dunar orbit.

[Vandalen]

@Tunic:
erm.. no. You can get more science for wireless transfer of your reports. But you do not get more than tha basic value for bringing it home.

Best use of the mobile lab is on a basestation on your target, for example Mun. Put a small station with lab in orbit. use a small lander to go to multiple locartions. Everytime you dock the lander with your station, full with science, you take a Kerbal on EVA to gather the science reports from the science parts of your lander. After that, you can store your reports on every pod.

Here is the important thing of the lab:

It can reset used scienceparts, the goo container and the material bay.

After "cleaning", you can start to the next spot with your small lander.


@Xcorps: Duna has only one biomas. A lab would be overkill.

[Trehek]

Originally posted by Xavandier:

In theory, could I get 100% science credit from every biome on a particular planet/moon(including reports) using a single rover with 3 crewman, a MPL, a solar panel(s), and all the science equipment in the game attatched to it? If not, why? (Barring land formations.)

Yes. The MPL's ability to clean science equipment for re-use allows you to exhaust science from one or more landing sites. You may store the experiments in the lab or in a command pod for a return trip, or you may transmit. The lab also improves the efficiency of transmitting.

Originally posted by Xavandier:

How do you think the MPL is best used?

For Kerbin's moons a station or baseship in low orbit of your target body is quite useful. Have a small lander perform low cost drops to the surface, pick up science and return to base for a reset. For bodies with high landing costs, a lab equipped lander may be preferred, although the lack of biomes on celestial bodies may make this overkill. I prefer exploring the Jool system with a lab equipped orbital baseship.

[Thyriel]

MPL works pretty simple:
- adds more science to transmissions
- resets experiments so you can use them again
- collect experiment data

It does NOT give you the same science that you would get when transporting the experiments home to Kerbin

While adding more science to transmissions is nice, in my opinion its real power is the collection of experiments, so you can use one ship to visit a lot of planets and moons, transfer everything to the MPL and bring only the MPL back to kerbin then.

[Vandalen]

science reports can stored in every pod, at least one of a kind. Trash the dead wheight (the lab) when you go home. ;)

[Thyriel]

Originally posted by Vandalen:

science reports can stored in every pod, at least one of a kind. Trash the dead wheight (the lab) when you go home. ;)

and thats the difference, pods = one of a kind, MPL = unlimited ;)

[Bubba Fett]

I used to do exactly the same as TWC_Xcorps.
Recently I built a lander with a mobile lab. It operates from my Mun base doing suborbital hops. It carries 3850 dV worth of fuel and should be able to get anywhere on the Mun and back to base.

The idea is to land and do goo and material experimets and take surface samples then process them in the lab and transmit.
Then I get another set of samples and store them in the lab to return.
Then I get a third set of samples and store those in the pod for a seperate return.

While the lab will maximize your transmit value, you need to do multiple returns to get all of the science in a location. So I store duplicates in the lab and pod then return them to kerbin with 2 seperate data couriers.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=278411266

Unfortunatly this lander was designed and built using inferior weed and I forget the solar panels. There's a maintenance crew scheduled to add some in a couple of days, but panels added in EVA always end up a little crooked. :^(

[Ulrin]

Unfortunatly this lander was designed and built using inferior weed and I forget the solar panels.

+1 :D I have sometime same kind of trouble

@xavandier, if other example arnt enough, heres my experience:

i make a lander wiz 4 nuclear engine around a rokomax, wich is able to fly quickly on surface, several landing before refuel. That lander have 8 material bay+8 mystery goo on, all connect wiz docking port. i fly over a new biome :

1) EVA on approch
2) Landing, crew report
3) EVA on ground
3.1) EVA report
3.2) Surface sample
When back in ship, i transmit both eva report and surface sample and crew report, then reEVA for another sample wich i keep hot in cabin.Material bay and goo have future go back.

If i add a lab to my ship, every science point win wiz transmition will be 40% higher

I understand that after fully exploring Mun and Minmus...

[El Rushbo]

Originally posted by Vandalen:

@Xcorps: Duna has only one biomas. A lab would be overkill.

I'm sending one to Duna. You have the biome of Duna, Ike, low Duna orbit, high Duna orbit, low Ike orbit, high Ike orbit, and I assume Flying over Duna yields some science of its own as well.

[Vandalen]

hey, the floating lander-legs. :D

Still dont understand why you use transmitting for reports. You need Kerbals to run the lab, so you want them to return to kerbin, right? So why transmitting when you travel back anyway?

An other thing. The lab is big and heavy. As long as you dont land an Planets with athmosphere, leave all the heavy stuff in orbit. Use a small Lander with the science-parts, land, get data, go back in orbit and so on...

[Thyriel]

Originally posted by El Rushbo:

Originally posted by Vandalen:

@Xcorps: Duna has only one biomas. A lab would be overkill.

I'm sending one to Duna. You have the biome of Duna, Ike, low Duna orbit, high Duna orbit, low Ike orbit, high Ike orbit, and I assume Flying over Duna yields some science of its own as well.

thats 6 locations, and as he said, its overkill:
- MPL mass is 3,5t
- science jr mass is 0,2t
- goo mass is 0,15t

So what would be more fuel efficient, and therefore easier to do ? Getting 10 science jr + 10 goo's somewhere or one MPL ? ;)

[Bubba Fett]

Vandalen,

You transmit because transmitting AND returning a sample gets you more science than just returning a sample.

Also, normally you use one of these on a long duration mission where you try to hit every biome on a planet or moon. By transmitting you instantly gain science to unlock more of the tech tree back home. Your newly unlocked tech can then help support the science mission that made it possible. (refueling missions, kethane mining, resupply or crew change, ect.)

As for the orbiting lab VS the lander lab, it depends on your fuel situation. If you bring your fuel with you then it makes more sense to use a smaller lander to go to the surface and collect science then bring it back to orbit.
If you're mining fuel on the surface with the kethane mod then you can afford to use a larger lander and take the lab with you to do a more effective job on the surface.

I'm currently using both systems for the Mun.
My orbital lab:
The data courier is just coming in to return a load of science to kerbin. The lander is docked on the far side and the tanker that brings fuel up from the surface is docked at the far end.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=278475977

[Xcorps]

Where'd you get the torus?

[Vandalen]

Originally posted by El Rushbo:

I'm sending one to Duna. You have the biome of Duna, Ike, low Duna orbit, high Duna orbit, low Ike orbit, high Ike orbit, and I assume Flying over Duna yields some science of its own as well.

He just said "Duna". Come on. ;)

For a normal two-way trip with a lander, i would not use a lab.