From: bondage@frontiernet.net   
      
   "Fred J. McCall" wrote:   
   >   
   > Joann Evans  wrote:   
   >   
   > :Rodney Kelp wrote:   
   > :>   
   > :> Well if you had a moon base you could go and fetch an asteroid and bring   
   it   
   > :> to the moon and process it.   
   > :   
   > :  Why necessairily the Moon? You can't land it, any 'processing' will be   
   > :on the asteroid itself, so it might as well be a high Earth orbit.   
   >   
   > Except most of our industrial processes work better in the presence of   
   > at least some gravity.  It makes a lot of things a lot more   
   > convenient.   
   >   
   > I'd think you just chuck it into a crater from on high and then go   
   > strip mine it out.  No 'landing it' necessary.  Little to no   
   > atmosphere means you can use solar furnaces for smelting.   
      
      
      But could you make the impact as a velocity low enough to leave   
   something worth working on (as opposed to scattering much of the mass   
   over half the Moon, and ejected back into space, with the following   
   orbital debris issues), as well as no major damage to the area?   
      
      That's what I meant by 'can't land it.' You can certainly arrange an   
   impact, but...   
      
      
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