[TML] Asteroid Deflection

[Rob Davenport]

Tom Naro quoth:
> My idea was a sacrifice jump - position the jumpship in the path of the 
> object and time the jump so that the ship will jump exactly as the rock 
> hits it.  The best result you could hope for would be *Ship destroyed - 
> but asteroid no longer a threat.*


For non-near-C rocks (either aimed by fate or a really surreptitious 
enemy), I think people in the Traveller universe would have ample time to 
detect the threat and send a ship or ships there to jump it (or fragments 
of it) away, averting disaster.  Probably's happened a few times over 
11,000 worlds and 1,100 years.  Not every day, but known. Put as many 
ships on the body, lamprey-like, as needed and have them jump out to 
nowhere. If the body is sufficiently big it might take a LOT of ships...

Now on those worlds not in the core developed regions, out on the fringes 
in the marches, that don't have adequate monitoring of near-mainworld 
objects, they might be willing to offer a band of adventurers a large sum 
for the (sacrificial) use of their ship, perhaps forcibly...

For near-C rocks, yeah, catching up to it is the hard part and I doubt the 
victims would have sufficient time to succeed at it.  So I suspect your 
method might be better - put a fleet of ships in its path timed to jump 
out as it passes and hope one or more are successful.  Heck, just haul up 
all those "jump torpedoes" lying around (i.e. just the engines and a hulk 
for necessary infrastructure - old or abandoned ships, anything to contain 
the minimum necessary equipment).

I was mostly thinking about non-near-C, naturally occurring, bodies, but I 
like your idea too.

Rob

-- 
More Slightly Less Common Latin Phrases:
  Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt.
  You know, the Romans invented the art of love.