Great Idea for moving Class E Asteroids!

[Right]

They always are at first anyways.

What if you brought a mass accelerator (AKA fanciful molecular catapult) and then just used material from the asteroid as fuel? I'm not entirely sure how these things work, but thats what you guys are here for! Plausible or no?

[Scotius]

Sure, if your catapult can fling stuff faster than local escape velocity. The problem is, even a relatively "small" asteroid is still VERY massive. So you have to fling a LOT of stuff into space to get any noticeable results. Which takes time (and effort). But hey - with every metric ton of rock flung away your task becomes easier

[hugix]

I saw a documentary the other day where a scientist had kind of the same idea but simpler.

Get a satellite near the asteroid and shoot it with a powerful laser. The energy will heat the asteroid and the vapors coming of the asteroid will propel it in a different orbit.