On Wed, Dec 10, 2014 at 10:19:09AM -0500, Jeffrey Schwartz wrote:
> On Tue, Dec 9, 2014 at 7:49 PM, Tim <xxxxxx@little-possums.net> wrote:
> > In vacuum, steam molecules depart the vicinity at a good fraction of a
> > kilometre per second.  There's no air getting in the way.
>
> Wouldn't the cloud be moving toward the ship though?
> I'd think the crater would focus it back along the line the laser came in on.

No; by the nature of heat they move in a random direction.  They won't
form a cloud, because there's (mostly) nothing keeping them together.

- Tim