I saw two options to get more copper from. One was a small patch relatively close to my factory. The other was larger but farther away and surrounded by lots of nests. I chose the latter. The base is getting attacked every 10 seconds or so. No problem.
In the meantime I was getting tired of solar panels and accumulators. So I went nucular. This is my modest setup with 2 reactors and lots of wires to control fuel cells, steam, and mood lights.
The lights turn green when the reactors are burning fuel cells. I didn't realize until now that steam can be stored in tanks indefinitely. Weird.
I should have researched nuclear power much earlier. Even 2 reactors produce more power than I'll ever need (to launch the rocket anyway).
While the rocket is being built, there is one more thing I wanted to do. Remember the copper mine that is constantly attacked?
I've made some alterations.
And clean-up.
The mine should be safe now.
I'm free!
Seriously, this game is insidious. Sometimes I load my game with the intention to just quickly do 2 or 3 things, and suddenly 5 hours have passed. Even now there is much more to do, to optimize, to research. But I've had enough. One reason for me to revisit this game would be the 8 hour challenge. Maybe next year.