It has been suggested by some futuristic or sci fi leaning thinkers, that Ceres' surface might be mined for water to support human exploration and settlement of space. But NASA's Dawn mission and other observations show that it is very dark and seems to consist of "hydrated minerals" in an environment warm enough to make water ice sublimate. Does this mean that mining water on Ceres is really hard? Requiring deep drilling or excavating through thick hard surface layers before useful water ice is encountered.
Could a lander on Ceres just heat up the surface and collect water sublimating from it?
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