Miner drone

The Halcyons' mining drones and shell storage system

Launched mechanically/magnetically from Halcyon mining ships and facilities in "shells", these drones are launched towards asteroids. Once the shell hits the asteroid, having been slown down enough by ion pulsers as to survive the impact, the protective shell opens up, releasing the drone, the shells being hooked upon the asteroid as not to be lost.

With the mining drone freed, the drone deploys, moving into position - where it will then start 3D printing complex carbon based clockworks, structurings and mechanisms all over the asteroid as per programmed orders which were inprinted before launch. Through the use of clockworks, spring powered and mechanical devices with minor powering from the drone itself, the asteroid is turned into a jurry rigged space faring craft, propulsed by a mass driver - which launches chunks of the asteroid.

Using this, the drone now drives the asteroid back towards the Halcyon mining facility or ship, where the drone and shellings will be retrieved for future use, and the asteroid mined.

Halcyon mining operations launch multiple waves of those asteroids, bringing a constant waved flux of asteroids to it's location for harvesting of ressources, moving the asteroids around in the mining area using mechanical arms and other drones.

Done in Google Sketchup