The concept of a gravity tractor was first put forth in a 2005 paper written by Edward Lu and Stanley Love at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Given the fact that an asteroid that’s just about 650 ...

The tractor would hover above the surface of the asteroid,without touching it, and use gravity as a towline. If the spacecraft maintainsa consistent distance between it and the asteroid, and ...

A little gentle persuasion might accomplish more than powerful missiles to keep the Earth safe from rogue asteroids.

Space.com: Two NASA astronauts present a plan for an unmanned, spacecraft that uses the invisible bond of gravity to pull an asteroid gently into a new, non-threatening orbit.

A gravity tractor could deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid Credit: Dan Durda/FIAAA/B612 Foundation 9 Sending a nuclear bomb into space will be a last resort, officials have said Credit: Getty ...

From 'nukes' to an array of mirrors and even a gravity TRACTOR: All the wackiest asteroid-blocking ideas NASA contemplated before gambling $325 million on a 15,000mph game of cosmic billiards with ...

A "gravity tractor," a large spacecraft that slowly tugs the asteroid away using its own gravitational pull, has also been theorized. If all else fails, the long warning time means authorities ...

Tractor, ion beams, paint. A separate idea called a gravity tractor involves a large spacecraft flying up near the asteroid and—without touching it—using its gravitational pull to tug it away ...

NASA's DART spacecraft has successfully collided with an asteroid as part ... Multiple impactors might be needed for big space rocks or a combination of impactors and so-called gravity tractors, ...

The 1,260-pound Double Asteroid Redirection Test spacecraft, or DART, collided with the estimated 11-billion-pound, 520-foot-long asteroid Dimorphos at 14,000 mph about 7 million miles from Earth.