Tractor beams are most commonly used on Spaceship s and Space Station s.
They are generally used in two ways:
# As a device for securing or retrieving cargo, passengers, shuttlecraft, etc. This is analogous to Crane s on modern Ship s.
# As a means of preventing an enemy from escaping, analogous to Grappling Hook s.
In the latter case, there are usually countermeasures that can be employed against tractor beams. These may include pressor beams (a stronger pressor beam will counteract a weaker tractor beam) or ''plane shears'' aka ''shearing planes'' (a device to "cut" the tractor beam and render it ineffective). In some fictional realities Shields can block tractor beams, or the generators can be disabled by sending a large amount of energy back up the beam to its source.
Tractor beams and pressor beams can be used together as a weapon: by attracting one side of an enemy spaceship while repelling the other, one can create severely damaging shear effects in its hull. Another mode of destructive use of such beams is rapid alternating between pressing and pulling force in order to cause structural damage to the ship as well as inflicting lethal forces on its crew.
Two objects being brought together by a tractor beam are usually attracted toward their common center of gravity. This means that if a small spaceship applies a tractor beam to a large object such as a planet, the ship will be drawn towards the planet, rather than vice versa.
Tractor beams do not always work like this. In ''Star Trek'', tractor beams are non-Newtonian. The target is always drawn toward the emitter, irrespective of mass, because the beam does not actually transmit a force across space. It functions similarly to the Warp Drive , manipulating space-time at the target's position.
Works containing well-known appearances of tractor beams include:
- '''' does not employ tractor beams in favor of grappling hooks.
- '' Star Wars '' (movies, books, games)
- '' Babylon 5 '' (TV series)
- '' Buck Rogers '' comic strip - originally just repulsor beams; tractors appeared by 1970s
- '' Galaga '' - used by the Galagas to steal the player's ship.
- The "Grabber" in '''' (games)
- The Salvage Corvette 's "Salvage Field" in '' Homeworld '' (games)
- The '' Honor Harrington '' books by David Weber
- The '' Lensman '' books by E. E. Smith (possibly the original appearance)
- The Grapple Beam from the ''Metroid'' Series (games)
- The '' SeaQuest DSV '' episode " Splashdown ."
- The '' Sector General '' books by James White (source of the combined tractor/pressor beam weapon)
- Starfire Series - the combined tractor/pressor beam weapon
- '' Starplex '' by Robert J. Sawyer
- One Crystal Eres (magic spell) in Tales of Legendia and a magic spell in Tales of Phantasia (games) is named Tractor Beam, that launches the enemy in the air.
- In '' Eve Online '' (game), tractor beams are modules that can pull cargo canisters towards the ship in space.
- The Trigger by Arthur C. Clark involves the development of tractor beams in the early part of the novel.
- in Spaceballs , Spaceball 1 uses a tractor beam - referred to as a "magnetic beam" in the film - to intercept Princess Vespa's Mercedes space cruiser.
- The '' used tractor beams on several occasions.
- In '' The Incredibles '', Syndrome uses Zero-point Energy .
- In Time Crisis 4 , Wild Dog uses a Tractor Beam at one point to direct crates and other heavy objects at the players.
- In Austin Powers In Goldmember , Dr. Evil 's evil plan involved using a tractor beam to crash a golden asteroid into the Earth, causing a terrential flood.
- Archie Comics , where it is caricatured as a literal "tractor"
- , It is used as a Gadget to move marked objects from one place to another, often presenting a plot advance.
- In Half-Life 2 , Gordon Freeman is armed with a device called the "Gravity Gun", which can throw heavy or sharp objects with little or no effort. In the last mission, it is accidentally modified to manipulate biomatter, and can throw Combine soldiers to their deaths.
- A similar gun to the one in ''Half-Life 2'' appears in '''', available to the player beginning with the second mission. In addition to a "gravity gun", the item also serves as a map and a Time Machine for the player's character, Sgt. Cortez .
- Another similar gun to Half Life 2's gravity gun called the "Capture gun" appears as the primary tool in the Wii video game Elebits , where it is used to manipulate objects and capture the titular creatures.
- In a villain attempted to use a tractor beam to move the moon.
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