[TML] Asteroid Deflection

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 7/14/08 10:34 PM, "Rob Davenport" <rgd at travellercentral.com> wrote:

> 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...

Hmm.  Is there even anything suggesting this might work?  I thought the jump
field only extended a few meters past the hull.  If the rock is big enough
to worry about (at least 100 m +) wouldn't you just be taking fairly trivial
bites out of the surface?