How do other GMs deal with giving detail about a planet their players are scanning. Do they give exact detail "Yes this place in infested by Tyranids" or do you state that there are life forms on the planet, and they can not be confirmed from this orbit.. I'm running into an issue of getting my players off the ship and actually into a set of story, but I just can't find the thing I'm looking for. Any suggestions?

Well, what kind of information the PC:s should get from the planet should at least depend on their auger arrays. I think that the auger array's are not that accurate, as they are ment to scan things 100 000 km away, and give rought details (for example, starship components). Also, in Traitor's Nexus, it is stated that scanner's have smaller chance of detecting the small, non-powered city. Therefore, I'd say that augers scan for metals, electricity or radiation mostly (at least they are easiest to detect). But biomass should be detectable as well, but not that accurately.

My scans always say lifesigns, and not specify their type (tyranids should register as animals (but the hive fleet in orbit not). But it they would send an away team down to the planet, then the away team would report the tyranids, althought they might call them "agressive local animals", unless the grunts have Forbidden Lore(Xeno).

And if you have trouble getting the PC:s to the planet, simply make sure that they want to get there. Some carrot might be useable, for example, treasure or something what the NPC crewmembers can't do? Negotiations? Shore leave? Or, you might want to come up a reason for the PC:s to leave the ship, althought not permanently, for example, a some kind of sickness (and they would need to find the cure) or assassins or something.

But it they would send an away team down to the planet, then the away team would report the tyranids, althought they might call them "agressive local animals", unless the grunts have Forbidden Lore(Xeno).

Or perhaps "They got Lupus! I'm the only one left! They're right behind me! Aaaaargh [radio static]", but that amounts to pretty much the same thing.

I always like the suggestion that it is written into the RT's warrant that they have to physically set foot on the planet, installation, hulk, etc in order to claim it as their own and therefore draw profit from it

Eldar/Ork/Kroot > Technologically evolved humanoids xeno
Tyranid > Unknown Xenomorph
Necron > No life form detected, strange energy reading

My players are running around with a R-type Auger system, so that’s been the bases of my considerations on the subject. To that end, this is what I’ve given them:

1) Long Range: When in a system, they can detect the type of Star, Luna-sized or larger bodies (as well as large asteroid/gas clusters) in orbit around said solar body. In addition, by performing a focused augury they can get rough atmospheric density, temperature and composition. They instead get rough surface mineral composition if the planet has no atmosphere. They can also detect any really really large energy emissions (space stations or bigger).
2) Short Range: Once in low orbit or otherwise close to a target, they can add the following information: Surface temperature and rough composition, active biosphere, Major energy emissions (plasma reactors, unshielded high transmit ion wires, radio towers)
3) Direct: Form the same distance as short but covers areas measured in feet rather then miles. Focused augury can pick up smaller emissions or more precision, but you have to know where to look. Given the description in Lure of the ‘Zoom function’ on your basic augur I’ll give out the kind of information a high powered orbital camera could show, but again you have to already know where your looking. Rule of thumb, resolution will let you pick out something that is 1/100th of area looked at. So to spot a Car (>3m across) your Augur would only be looking at a 300m x300m area. (maximum area for this is 1kmx1km)

Also, because it’s an R-Type Array, when ever the cognators run across a pattern that isn’t in their databases (xeno power reactor etc) they tend to default to celestial phenomena.

As for getting the people to actually go planet side, I agree with a few of the above, you need to give them a reason to. Unless they’re desperate for resources, a new colony or recreation, there’s no motivation to just randomly onto a planetoid. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of story are you trying to get them to enter, maybe I/we could help with more specific sugestions.

Thanks for the advice. I am not new to GMing, but I am new to Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader. I'm the type of GM who loves an open ended area, gives the players a play ground to play it. Though now one of my players has asked for some construction/guidance in the game, so I guess I have to build them a swing set. I made a mistake earlier in the game, by making their Rogue Trader active and on the ship....no one wanted to play Rogue Trader, so I thought that it would be best for me to play the Rogue Trader.....yea, that hasn't worked out so well.

I made a mistake earlier in the game, by making their Rogue Trader active and on the ship....no one wanted to play Rogue Trader, so I thought that it would be best for me to play the Rogue Trader.....yea, that hasn't worked out so well.

While IMO not exactly the best version (RT should be about the PCs being the biggest guys usually around), it's a good way to steer the game. After all, you can easily the characters to go on an away mission when it comes to that.

If you want the RT out of the way, I very much like the plot idea posted on the forum once - I think it was by Graver or N0-1. The present Rogue Trader has a non-adult child and a few rather non-sympathetic other relatives who would likely ruin the dynasty if they got their way. In one of the team's missions, the RT is badly wounded and will die shortly. He asks his council (the PCs) to obfuscate his death so the warrant doesn't move to his relatives but stays with the characters until his child comes of age and can claim the warrant. The PCs now have a fun time pretending their RT is still alive and finding excuses why he can't appear in person.
Hilarity ensues.

Talking "What can they see / how to get them on a planet?

Remember that this game is not hard science but "space opera swash bucklers" ( Lure of the Expanse enforced this feeling a lot!).

If you want them to go down their in person and you do not want to give them to much information, their are many reasons why their sensors aren´t giving them enough details

- Dense Atmosphere; perhaps raging with thunderstorms deluding/blocking/decreasing sensors
- a world TEEMING with different live forms and not much of cities, so doing it all by scanner is much more time consuming then going
down and have a look what "this pattern and this pattern and this pattern" actually means
- a sun bathing the planet in really harsh/strange radiation
- a atmosphere polluted so much that it defuses scanners
- the climate is much to hot to descern life forms (assumes that heat is one of the things that makes life detectable)
- life is much to scarce and scattered to be probably detected
- their are some strange artefacts/flora/plants/crystal/geophenomena that overshadow the readings
- lifeforms to hard to detecet if they keep subterran/in dense jungle
- some strangness of the plant (background radiation; particles that form an outer halo/ring) make sensors useless unless re-calibrated
this takes time and the RT is an hurry for some reason!