[perlgeek]

> Strip mining moon is the easy part.

Is it easy though?

The moon surface is full of nasty regolith that can jam up machines pretty quickly. Plus the lack of atmosphere means that any small particle you accelerate fast enough goes into a partial orbit around the moon and hits you on its way back.

[Ekaros]

Relatively to refining that stuff to anything useful on moon or in space. You have same trouble and then lot more.