Anyone who did any prospecting on a low gravity planet in their SRV will know this feeling. You blast your target and watch its ingredients spew up and up then... Slowly, gradually, drift down to the ground. Then you have to play the hoover game, snuffling up each one, a bit like this...
I don't spend a whole lot of time doing this. Much less now I periodically visit the shard sites, which only take about 30 minutes each (so 3 hours not including travel time). These sites are a blessing.
But they're all ultra low gravity. So, you shoot the crystalline shard in turret mode, target the raw g5 as it spins away, usually quite quickly then... Wait.
I don't mind this that much (still a blessing and sometimes you can play a game of catch with the SRV but this is a bit exhausting so usually I don't). But as I've practiced the whole process of blast, swivel and target, I've found myself more and more wishing the turret had a retractable grappling hook that could be fired (forward firing in the direction of the turret, so you always have to aim well) to grab the material (or cargo) you've targeted and pull it into the scoop.
I imagine doing this and the more I think about it the more I think it'd be really, really fun. It's low tech, it's a bit steam punk and it'd be way more fun than just waiting. It'd also help if the mats get stuck.
Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts.

I don't spend a whole lot of time doing this. Much less now I periodically visit the shard sites, which only take about 30 minutes each (so 3 hours not including travel time). These sites are a blessing.
But they're all ultra low gravity. So, you shoot the crystalline shard in turret mode, target the raw g5 as it spins away, usually quite quickly then... Wait.
I don't mind this that much (still a blessing and sometimes you can play a game of catch with the SRV but this is a bit exhausting so usually I don't). But as I've practiced the whole process of blast, swivel and target, I've found myself more and more wishing the turret had a retractable grappling hook that could be fired (forward firing in the direction of the turret, so you always have to aim well) to grab the material (or cargo) you've targeted and pull it into the scoop.
I imagine doing this and the more I think about it the more I think it'd be really, really fun. It's low tech, it's a bit steam punk and it'd be way more fun than just waiting. It'd also help if the mats get stuck.
Anyway, just wanted to share my thoughts.