Research Sample

Research Samples, also known as Harvestables, are renewable consumable items in Astroneer which grow on some plants and rocks, or found on backpacks of dead explorers. Upon activation, the player will receive a random amount of bytes, the amount depending on which type of sample the player activated. After activation, the Research Sample will respawn within 2-3 minutes. Plants have between one and four slots on which samples will grow, with each slot having its own respawn timer. Research Samples will not respawn if the plant or rock that they were growing on is uprooted. However, the plant or rock may have a valuable research item underneath which can only be accessed by uprooting the plant or rock.

Types of Samples

 * Organic: Found on plants scattered across the planets. Gives between 1 to 30 bytes.
 * Mineral: Found on rock formations on surfaces and in caves of planets. Gives between 30 to 130 bytes.
 * Technology: A rare sample that is found on the backpacks of dead explorers. Gives significantly more bytes than organic or mineral samples, around 400 if scanned, and when researched upwards of 1,350 bytes.