Dartz Wrote:... The benefits to mining the thing are obvious, along with having big ocean with a lot of resources, tourism and the chance to do research on establishing ecosystems. Do a slow enough landing, and there won't be any adverse effects on nearby coastlines.... it's not a sudden shock, but a gradual displacement over the course of a week or two. ...Okay, I'm back from the http://allthetropes.orain.org/wiki/Fridge_Logic]fridge...
What mining can be done better in a gravity well than in zero-g? I'm not a miner, so I don't know what processes need an "up" to work better (or at all). I do know it's easier to move things around in zero-g, once one's accustomed to that process.
And if that displacement is going to take a week or two, then the landing is going to take a week or two, as well. I hope nothing goes wrong.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012