All Questions
Tagged with spaceships science-fiction
165
questions
1
vote
2
answers
139
views
Advantages of centaurs in space [closed]
Based off of my previous question What animal would make the best centaur?
What advantages could using ape centaurs in space have over humans or incredibly smart chimps?
Some that I can think of are ...
- 729
11
votes
9
answers
3k
views
Why are worldships not shaped like worlds?
For the purposes of this question, let's say that a "worldship" is a starship (constructed by a civilization in the process of moving from K2 to K3, in my case) that is so large that it ...
- 5,425
5
votes
3
answers
203
views
Would the discovery of a room temperature superconductor with a high critical current improve ion drives?
I'm just an optimistic, uneducated bum, so if any of the terminology or ideas are wrong I apologize. So I understand that ion drives are very economical but very low thrust. Partly because powering ...
- 377
16
votes
22
answers
6k
views
Why can't escape pods be opened from the inside?
Set in the near future Space tourism is a thing, all commercial and non-military spaceships must come equipped with multiple escape pods. The minimum specs for each escape pod are as follows:
min ...
- 48k
12
votes
7
answers
4k
views
Can a spaceship "hitchhike" on an explosion to escape a gravity well?
Common in sci-fi tropes but absolutely climactic nonetheless, a spaceship faces impending doom after encountering a gravity well such as a stellar black hole. The spaceship's captain gives the order ...
- 48k
7
votes
10
answers
4k
views
Avoiding time travel or causality stuff
How to avoid blatantly time traveling or breaking causality in a big way when getting my characters to places quickly (Faster than light)?
The method used is a tunnel in some sort of different space ...
- 415
11
votes
22
answers
5k
views
Necessity of army and navy in a space warfare setting
I'm writing a realistic sci fi story involving interstellar conflict , where space warships (assume something like star destroyers from star wars) are the norm, These warships are capable of orbital ...
- 448
11
votes
10
answers
3k
views
Engines capable of surviving a highly destructive space battle
Context: It is set 50 000 years from "now" in no-FTL interstellar setting. The idea is that active defences and armor of spacecrafts have obscenely advanced to the point that any projectile ...
- 483
12
votes
12
answers
3k
views
Can it make sense for a spaceship to be crewed by many individual AI, rather than a handful with all the processing power?
Related to my previous question regarding fine dining for computer processes.
Background
We've got a spaceship sailing through the ocean black, crewed entirely by self-aware artificial intelligences. ...
- 14.4k
3
votes
4
answers
172
views
Would a life support system designed for space be practical on a planet?
Considering the:
required reflectivity and insulation from heat from a star,
heat dissipation capability (radiators, other methods),
general conductivity of the skin,
of a modern spacecraft e.g. ISS,...
- 412
3
votes
1
answer
788
views
Survival in a low-oxygen environment
I have a small group of astronauts in a damaged vessel, adrift for days with a non-functional environmental system/scrubbers. Ambient oxygen levels are low, but they have some emergency tanks of ...
- 39
3
votes
3
answers
429
views
Why would a sublight Alcubierre drive be more useful for braking than for propulsion?
To get to the point, ships in the setting I'm working on still use a conventional, albeit very advanced, form of rocket propulsion.
However interstellar ships also use a sublight Alcubierre drive ...
- 1,809
5
votes
3
answers
489
views
I have an unlimited supply of antimatter -- how do I actually make my spaceship go?
I'm making a book series set in the medium and far future of humanity, at various stages. Some elements are based in harder science than others. Throughout the timeline, Dyson swarms serve as the VIP ...
- 309
2
votes
3
answers
206
views
How would a multipurpose railgun work
In my game, spaceships need to have weapons with more than one purpose, due to the cost of hauling extra weight across interplanetary/interstellar space. My railgun needs to be able to fire plasma ...
- 81
7
votes
2
answers
789
views
Can Dusty Plasma radiators protect against lasers?
From Project Rho:
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/heatrad.php#:~:text=Dusty%20Plasma%C2%A0radiator%3A
Example Image: https://twitter.com/toughsf/status/1154692082478526465
A dusty plasma ...
- 357