Instead of lifting a lot of mass out of your gravity well and accelerating it, it does make a lot of sense to take advantage of this "free" mass and energy. Yo

Instead of lifting a lot of mass out of your gravity well and accelerating it, it does make a lot of sense to take advantage of this "free" mass and energy. You get some measure of radiation shielding as well. If we have thought of this, then certainly if there are any other intelligent space-faring species out there, then they have thought of it also. Perhaps we will find a surprise out there one day, as we scan asteroids and comets that fly by.