I like this idea alot. Air could be a resource that must be derived from maintaining a device that can replenish your supply...
For instance:
You have lost your space craft in a dense asteroid belt and your air is running out.
Your air supply device requires energy and you must find and mine elements that can help you generate that energy.
the air supply device is also breaking down and becoming less efficient, you must use your <replicator> to craft a replacement.
Your mining tools and replicator will also not last long without repair or replacement...
Can you get the resources you need to survive (and maybe thrive) in space...
As you mine the resources around you, you will have to venture farther to stay in the place you have established, or will you become a nomad? What dangers will you encounter in your travels?
A stars lifecycle (particularly if it has an explosive death) forms most of the elements we know.
Stars convert the abundant hydrogen in the universe to heavier elements once it is massive enough to maintain a chain reaction of hydrogen. As a stars hydrogen fuses into helium, the star will not have enough hydrogen, collapse then fuse its helium into other elements like carbon, oxygen nitrogen, etc but at some point the star cannot fuse the heavier elements such as iron and the star colapse creating even heavier elements.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesisUs, our own planet and the rest of this solar system is made of the elements of stars that exploded long ago.
“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
