Current Events > Watching DS9, and there is something that always bothered me

(+) Yeah! (+)

Why would anyone refine ore in a orbital station? Even if cost, or energy expenditures were of no concern, it is beyond illogical, as far as I can see.

Centralized processing far from Bajoran surface-based resistance cells and with ease of access to Cardassian freighters to ship out of system.

K181 posted...

Centralized processing far from Bajoran surface-based resistance cells and with ease of access to Cardassian freighters to ship out of system.

Also they might mine on a moon or nearby asteroids not just on the planet itself.

K181 posted...

Centralized processing far from Bajoran surface-based resistance cells and with ease of access to Cardassian freighters to ship out of system.

I hear what you are saying. But, imagine the cost of transporting millions of tons of ore into orbit. Surely, enhanced security for planet-based refineries would be cheaper.

mustachedmystic posted...

I hear what you are saying. But, imagine the cost of transporting millions of tons of ore into orbit. Surely, enhanced security for planet-based refineries would be cheaper.

Teleporters. And in Star Trek lore, leaving a planet is pretty basic.

mustachedmystic posted...

I hear what you are saying. But, imagine the cost of transporting millions of tons of ore into orbit. Surely, enhanced security for planet-based refineries would be cheaper.

If they're going to be taking the refined ore back to Cardassia or anywhere other than Bajor then they have to transport it off the planet anyway.

pikachupwnage posted...

Also they might mine on a moon or nearby asteroids not just on the planet itself.

If that was true, it would still be cheaper to have have refineries on each body, than to transport the ore out of its respective gravity well for processing in an orbital facility.

mustachedmystic posted...

If that was true, it would still be cheaper to have have refineries on each body, than to transport the ore out of its respective gravity well for processing in an orbital facility.

Maybe they did.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

If they're going to be taking the refined ore back to Cardassia or anywhere other than Bajor then they have to transport it off the planet anyway.

do you not realize that most ore contains but a tiny percentage of the sought out element? In other words, to produce a ton of iron, you need to process tens of thousands of tons of iron ore.

UnsteadyOwl posted...

If they're going to be taking the refined ore back to Cardassia or anywhere other than Bajor then they have to transport it off the planet anyway.

And of course they're going to, because the entire point of the occupation was to loot Bajor of everything of value. It's not like the Cardassians were going to reinvest any of it into building new Bajoran infrastructure.

mustachedmystic posted...

If that was true, it would still be cheaper to have have refineries on each body, than to transport the ore out of its respective gravity well for processing in an orbital facility.

Star Trek has always presented leaving a planet's gravity well as a trivial activity. Terok Nor was also in orbit of Bajor until the Federation took over and moved it to the mouth of the wormhole. When the station was in orbit, they could simply use the transporters to beam ore from surface into the station's refinery. And since the Bajoran Resistance generally didn't have access to transporters, this was the easiest way to secure the refinery. They still could (and did) infiltrate saboteurs into the refinery workforce, but having it on Terok Nor instead of planetside made that more difficult, and especially made it more difficult for saboteurs to escape afterward.

SaikyoStyle posted...

Maybe they did.

Are you saying that the true purpose of the station was the pain and suffering inflicted on the Bajorian slaves that worked there, and not its output?

Red_XIV posted...

And of course they're going to, because the entire point of the occupation was to loot Bajor of everything of value. It's not like the Cardassians were going to reinvest any of it into building new Bajoran infrastructure.

Star Trek has always presented leaving a planet's gravity well as a trivial activity. Terok Nor was also in orbit of Bajor until the Federation took over and moved it to the mouth of the wormhole. When the station was in orbit, they could simply use the transporters to beam ore from surface into the station's refinery. And since the Bajoran Resistance generally didn't have access to transporters, this was the easiest way to secure the refinery. They still could (and did) infiltrate saboteurs into the refinery workforce, but having it on Terok Nor instead of planetside made that more difficult, and especially made it more difficult for saboteurs to escape afterward.

Holy shit, you completely destroyed my argument. I totally forgot about transporter technology. *facepalm*

mustachedmystic posted...

do you not realize that most ore contains but a tiny percentage of the sought out element? In other words, to produce a ton of iron, you need to process tens of thousands of tons of iron ore.

Yeah, fair point.

Security is probably number 1. Cruelty and domination is 2.

Even without transporters, transporting ore to an orbital space station in Star Trek is really no more effort or difference than transporting it in a tractor trailer would be for us.

mustachedmystic posted...

do you not realize that most ore contains but a tiny percentage of the sought out element? In other words, to produce a ton of iron, you need to process tens of thousands of tons of iron ore.

Metallic asteroids can be like 85% iron by mass. Even plenty of common terrestrial ores can be 40-80%. idk how much useful iron real-world refineries can extract from that (I doubt it's as low as the fraction of a percent you're claiming) but even the Cardassians in Trek have such a high tech level that I'd expect they're getting the vast majority of the elemental iron from their ore, and then recycling most of the waste for other purposes (e.g. merchandise for Quark's, or furniture at Quark's, or food and beverages at Quark's).

skullmagic2 posted...

Metallic asteroids can be like 85% iron by mass. Even plenty of common terrestrial ores can be 40-80%. idk how much useful iron real-world refineries can extract from that (I doubt it's as low as the fraction of a percent you're claiming) but even the Cardassians in Trek have such a high tech level that I'd expect they're getting the vast majority of the elemental iron from their ore, and then recycling most of the waste for other purposes (e.g. merchandise for Quark's, or furniture at Quark's, or food and beverages at Quark's).

Quark using industrial waste as filler in food/drink would certainly be on brand for him.