jetflag
Elite Member
- Jul 17, 2020
- 2,513 Posts
- 1,998 Thanked
Good point, a convinient gas-stop along the way between systems basically.Thinking about the aliens visiting us for gas theory again...I saw it mentioned before that because our system has no unique, rare or special resources they have no reason to visit for that purpose. I am not sure about that.
I think its the wrong perspective. It's not a matter of special resources, just a matter of convenience, like visiting the only gas station on the long road in the desert. Gas is a common commodity, but at a point and place in time it's simply required to stop there. A traveller may not have Earth as a destination but the proximity relevant to the route makes sense. With such gaps in between systems it seems very likely you would need to stop at places along the way. Routes would probably be mapped to pass locations with wide material options. That will apply to every system probably, but it all comes down to the road you are taking.
i would still posit that the aliens in question wouldn’t go all the way to the inner planets as it’s simply more efford then it’s worth for a mere gas stop, and mine the resources near the Jovian moons or Saturn. The former also having plenty of (smaller) gravity assist bodies should they benefit from that drive wise
but fair point non the less