But the point of sending out Von Nuemann probes is to send them to every star in a galaxy, so that you can watch the goings on of all those stars. That means th

But the point of sending out Von Nuemann probes is to send them to every star in a galaxy, so that you can watch the goings on of all those stars. That means that any Von Neumann plan in the Milky Way will involve Earth. > Where do they get the resources to reproduce? From the the star systems that they reach. Stars provide the energy and whatever detritus in the form of an asteroid belt that orbits the star will provide the material to build new probes.