Thanks for all the advice, meep-eep and others... I was hoping to fight them for resources (I'm getting *really* tired of mining) but it looks like I might be best off following the ZFP hint and doing the quest that (presumably) stops them coming.

Can anyone give me some tips on fighting probes in the early game?  I only have an earthing cruiser and an eluder to play with... with the eluder I've tried keeping turned away from the probe and firing the homing missiles when it gets close but I find that if I let it get close enough for the missile to reach it, it starts spraying lightning and damages me badly. With the cruiser I find I can't turn fast enough to aim the missiles at it...

I could really use some help!