Is there any way to reduce repeated science experiments?

Question

There are many science experiments in the game that only give you part of the (remaining) value whenever you carry them out and retrieve the data. So, even if you rerun the experiment, you only get part of the remaining value again, leaving yet another fraction of the full value. Like, the first time you get 75%, the second time you get 75% of the remaining 25% for a total of 93.75%, then 98.4375% for the third, and so on.

Even if you rerun the experiments again and again, you only seem to get asymptotically close to 100%, but actually reaching it seems to be impossible (or at least require an unreasonable amount of resources and effort).

Personally, I hate ending up with so many experiments in my Science Library whose value bar is somewhere around 90+% full - that just kind of tickles my OCD tendencies the wrong way.

Therefore, I have been wondering if maybe there is some way to eventually retrieve the full science value for every experiment with a limited number of runs?

Answer 1

There is no way to completely remove the requirement for repeated experiments in the base game.

You can use scientists to reset experiments in orbit, this should reduce your needs for repeated launches.

If your not mod adverse there is No More Science Grind, which should suit your needs, though it has not been updated for 1.0.5 yet

Answer 2

As CyanAngel mentioned years ago, there is still (as of stock KSP 1.12.5) no way to remove the repeated experiments.

You will need 4 recoveries to get to ~99% value. See Kerbal Wiki: Science - Repeated Experiment Value

Here is how I cut down on the time needed to recover experiments (in stock KSP):

• Transmit data back once: this counts as one recovery and brings you asymptotically closer to the full value. Make sure you have good signal for the transmission - use Relays!
• Use Experiment Storage Units (or Probe cores with built-in storage like Remote Guidance Unit). Three should suffice to retrieve 99% of the science value with a single launch (if you also transmit back).
• Data capsule: If you slap a small core, an Ant and a parachute onto the Experiment Storage Unit, you have something you can sent back to Kerbin independently of the main mission; this can cut down on the time until you can recover the data.
• Use action groups: set one key to run all experiments and set the "Collect all" action of the Experiment Storage Units on the same key. You can now spam this key to collect all re-runnable experiments very easily. (Does not seem to work right with "Collect all" action of command modules). A separate key to delete the data from the experiments (but not the storage) is also helpful if you want to reset everything before entering the next biome/situation.
• Bring a scientist: you will need one to reset the experiments marked as non re-runnable.