RightBigToe

The key thing to remember, is that while people will be mining all over the place and making huge messes, each planet is very very big.  A standard 200km planet has a circumference of 630km (~400 miles), which is a ridiculous amount of space for a game, let alone a single game location.  NQ has stated previously that if we tried to, it would take thousands of players decades to mine out an entire planet.

I dont think anyone is proposing a 2 minute flight through atmosphere or a realistic depth to the atmosphere, but in the gameplay demos the devs have passed through the atmosphere in less than 5 seconds which, to me, completely removes any sort of barrier between the surface of the planet and outer space.  Somewhere in the 10-30 second range would, to me, provide for a more genuine experience and provide a border between space and surface.