A thruster firing in the opposite direction would be needed to keep the spacecraft at a constant distance from the asteroid. And yet another concept, gravity tractor, would deflect the asteroid ...

But the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking at a far subtler approach to saving the planet – a gravity tractor. The plan involves sending a spacecraft to rendezvous with a dangerous asteroid and ...

They argue that a killer asteroid could be eased off its collision course simply by applying gravity. Their plan calls for an unmanned spacecraft called a "gravitational tractor" to hover near an ...

A thruster firing in the opposite direction would be needed to keep the spacecraft at a constant distance from the asteroid. Gravity tractor And yet another concept, gravity tractor ...

There's also "a nuclear explosive device, kinetic impact, a gravity tractor, or even wrapping the asteroid in a sheet of reflective plastic such as aluminized clingfilm, which will act as a solar ...

Perhaps the most elegant, though least spectacular, solution involves parking a spacecraft called a "gravity tractor" in orbit around an asteroid, and relying on its gravity to tug the rock gently ...

This means that, during those windows, the asteroid and our planet don't have very large differences in velocities. When that happens, once a spacecraft has left Earth's gravity well, it can reach ...

The ‘gravity tractor’ method of asteroid deflection involves flying a spacecraft close enough to an asteroid so its gravitational attraction gradually pulls the body off course ...