November Mission Model Discussion: M14 - METEOROID DEFLECTION

Welcome to the November Mission Model Discussion! From now until just before Thanksgiving this space will feature ONE part of the FIRST LEGO League INTO ORBIT game challenge per day. The Robot Game is only 1/4th of the overall FIRST LEGO League challenge for teams this year!
This post is meant to be an aid, not a replacement for carefully reading the Challenge Guide and Updates!

Today we will explore M14 - METEOROID DEFLECTION

At the Beginning of the Match

The Meteoroid Ring is placed loosely on the black Meteoroid Ring circle in the North-central part of
the mat. One blue Meteoroid is placed on the Meteoroid Ring. The other blue Meteoroid is placed in Base. The Meteoroid Catcher is securely fastened to the mat in the center of the East wall.

Required for Scoring

Send the Meteoroids over the Free-line from a position clearly and completely West of the Free-line.
The Meteoroids must travel independently and stop touching the mat inside the Meteoroid Catcher. 

Conditions

The Meteoroid must travel independently from the Free-line to the Meteoroid catcher without any aids. The Meteoroid must be hit or released from the robot while it is completely and clearly West of the Free-Line.

Update

U01 – METEOROID CATCHER SHAPE 14 August 2018
The Meteoroid Catcher described in the Mission Model Building Instructions is correct. You can ignore the slight difference seen in the pictures of the Challenge Guide.

U03 – METEOROID RESET 24 September 2018
By Rule R10 and Mission M14, a Meteoroid may never be reset outside Base by hand during a Match. By Rule GP5, any portion of a video allowing hand reset must be ignored.

Points

0 - The Meteoroids are not touching the mat in the Meteoroid Catcher or did not travel there in a legal
manner.
8 - One Meteoroid is touching the mat in either Side Section of the Meteoroid Catcher, the other Meteoroid is not in a scoring position.
12 - One Meteoroid is touching the mat in the Center Section of the Meteoroid Catcher, the other Meteoroid is not in a scoring position.
16 - Both Meteoroids are touching the mat in either Side Section after traveling there in a legal manner.
20 - One Meteoroid is touching the mat in the Center Section and the other in one of the Side Sections of the Meteoroid Catcher.
24 - Both Meteoroids are touching the mat in the Center Section of the Meteoroid Catcher and all
scoring conditions were met.

Note from Oregon Head Referee Tom

Meteoroids must start from West of and pass over the Free-Line. The Free Line only extends from the Strength Machine to the Habitation Hub. Meteoroid launches must be positioned carefully. Update U03 says that the Meteoroids cannot be reset by hand.

Real World Impact

Meteoroids are both a possible threat to human habitation on and off of Earth and a possible resource. For both purposes, people are developing ways to contain meteoroids. While their systems will likely be more complex than our Meteoroid Catcher on the mat, they may function in a similar manner. Meteoroids are formed when asteroids collide and chunks break off. Those chunks then orbit the sun on their own, sometimes drifting to larger gravity sources. 

Discussion

The Meteoroid is near many other missions and the launch zone makes taking a shot requires precise aim. At the same time we know from past years that the LEGO ball can be very unpredictable. Does the time it takes to get each Meteoroid into position and take a shot worth the few points that can be attained in this mission? Will your team also collect the Meteoroid Ring for use in a future mission?