The laser scanner looks like a Hokuyo UTM LX30 (or perhaps the USB version) and they retail for around 6k USD.
The devs have to be congratulated for weaving in a reference to a 1970s UK TV show.
I wonder what a sensor named Ermintrude or Dylan would have looked like.
A few comments on your comments.
Firstly, the compressive strength of NEOs is not well understood. Many may be little more than self-gravitating rubble-piles, in which case your reaction engine will simply dig itself into a pit whilst ejecting boulders around it. Net result, multiple impactors on the same heading as the original body - which is Not Good.
The mathematics is simple to perform for a gravity deflector. Here the displacing force is dispersed over the whole body - no single point stresses to accommodate. What is not so simple to gauge is the mass of the inbound body. And knowing that quite well is crucial to the success of a gravity tractor. You are at least correct in estimating the need for multi-year duration burns to deflect plausible objects. That is neither impossible nor impractical.
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The laser scanner looks like a Hokuyo UTM LX30 (or perhaps the USB version) and they retail for around 6k USD. The devs have to be congratulated for weaving in a reference to a 1970s UK TV show. I wonder what a sensor named Ermintrude or Dylan would have looked like.
A few comments on your comments. Firstly, the compressive strength of NEOs is not well understood. Many may be little more than self-gravitating rubble-piles, in which case your reaction engine will simply dig itself into a pit whilst ejecting boulders around it. Net result, multiple impactors on the same heading as the original body - which is Not Good. The mathematics is simple to perform for a gravity deflector. Here the displacing force is dispersed over the whole body - no single point stresses to accommodate. What is not so simple to gauge is the mass of the inbound body. And knowing that quite well is crucial to the success of a gravity tractor. You are at least correct in estimating the need for multi-year duration burns to deflect plausible objects. That is neither impossible nor impractical.