Asteroid mining

[Vilholmen]

I noticed there is no ore detectors that work in space so no way to find the ores. Also the mining drills I have on my CV are telling me that I cannot use this on planets, and cannot mine this tock on asteroids? Any suggestions on how to fix this or am i just stupid?

[NimrodX]

You can't mine the decoration asteroids, only the ones with ore.

Currently there is no way to detect the ones with ore without using cheats (console commands like map). You have to just stumble upon them.

About the only way to find asteroids if you don't luck out and run into one at random is to do an exhaustive search. Fly around the planet in circles at 3-4km range and try to visit everywhere. Since there is no automatic way to know where you've been, about all you can do is set waypoint markers periodically to indicate where you've already checked.

I think you only detect them at < 500m. Staying on the lookout for strangely shaped and textured asteroids will help.

[kevan_austin]

If Asteroid has ore on it you can use CV to drill. Exploring looking for ore bearing asteroids is a pain but the amount of ore on the asteroid is large and mostly worth it . You can use the console to cheat and use the map command to reveal the whole playing field to show asteroids.

[Vilholmen]

Thank You

[CiaphasCain]

Can I drill asteroids with the handheld drill (the one you unlock at lvl7)?

[pwwatson1]

Originally posted by real_mister:

Can I drill asteroids with the handheld drill (the one you unlock at lvl7)?

Yes. You also can use the survival tool for this. It is now as fast as the old T1 drill and replaced it. It does not use any fuel ether. I would suggest using the Drone too. The Ore is spread out through the entire thing. It will look like Swiss cheese when you are done. LOL

[CiaphasCain]

Originally posted by pwwatson1:

Originally posted by real_mister:

Can I drill asteroids with the handheld drill (the one you unlock at lvl7)?

Yes. You also can use the survival tool for this. It is now as fast as the old T1 drill and replaced it. It does not use any fuel ether. I would suggest using the Drone too. The Ore is spread out through the entire thing. It will look like Swiss cheese when you are done. LOL

Thank you for the fast answer, but how can I tell if a asteroid has ore or not?

[pwwatson1]

Originally posted by real_mister:

Originally posted by pwwatson1:

Yes. You also can use the survival tool for this. It is now as fast as the old T1 drill and replaced it. It does not use any fuel ether. I would suggest using the Drone too. The Ore is spread out through the entire thing. It will look like Swiss cheese when you are done. LOL

Thank you for the fast answer, but how can I tell if a asteroid has ore or not?

If are you close (Like 500m) it will show as having some Ore. Other wise, you will have to use the answer from kevan_austin above.

[NimrodX]

Also... The main problem with hand drilling asteroids is the cold so make sure you've got a EVA Boost in your armor. I think you only need one. (yea I know heating/cooling doesn't actually work like this in reality in space suits but whatever I guess)

If you don't have one yet and aren't sure where to get one and just want to mine some ore, it's possible to stand in the doorway of your SV with your back pointing to space then use the drone to drill. Basically you stand right in the forcefield and don't get cold, and the drone spawns behind you. Some SV designs also have a shutter on the top to make this a little easier. Of course this won't work with an enclosed cockpit, you need a SV design with an interior area.