[JohnHaugeland]

> Wouldn't the energy beam push you away from the surface just as well?

do you believe lasers have thrust?

you could cut through a planet with a laser and still not lift a one ounce weight off the ground with the "push back"

laser ablation is the result of heat, not force

[lordofgibbons]

>do you believe lasers have thrust?

Absolutely. How do you think solar sails work? Light has inertia. If you emit large amounts of energy with any form of light, you'll get a thrust.

[JohnHaugeland]

"Absolutely. How do you think solar sails work?"

By accumulating tiny pressure over decades in zero gravity where they face no friction.

It is not coincidental that you had to go to this extreme of an example.

.

"Light has inertia."

I see you missed the part where I gave a factual accounting of how much inertia is dispensed.

.

"If you emit large amounts of energy with any form of light, you'll get a thrust."

At the entire output of the Sun, you do not produce enough thrust to lift an average adult male human being in the gravity of the Earth.

Go do the math.

[throwaway22032]

Lasers do have thrust, yeah. I guess I haven't done the maths to work out how much would be produced by a mining one :P