Questions tagged [spaceships]

For questions involving implemented theory or technology for travelling through space. Consider also [space-travel]. See also the tag information (click "info") for more details on when this tag applies.

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8 answers
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Realistic protection for spaceships against kinetic projectiles

With relatively current technology (i.e. no force shields, etc) what are ways to protect a spaceship (or at least mitigate the amount of damage) against hypervelocity kinetic projectiles? I'm a ...
Oak135's user avatar
  • 111
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 ...
user6760's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
229 views

How would you get a ship out of a gravity well?

Context I'm helping a friend with a hard sci-fi story and we ran into an issue. In this setting the technology for absurdly powerful and efficient fusion drives which seem not to have heat managment ...
Shift_register's user avatar
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 ...
Woli's user avatar
  • 415
10 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 ...
Zetrox's user avatar
  • 438
3 votes
1 answer
186 views

How much liquid hydrogen is required to veer a manned probe off course into an escape trajectory in deep space?

I am working on this horror-scifi story based on the lost cosmonauts theory, where the Judica-Cordiglia brothers detected an SOS from a manned probe veering off into space before Yuri Gagarin ahem... ...
Furious Arcturus's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
3k views

What would it take for a spacecraft to travel to the sun's nadir and stop?

In a science fiction future universe, spacecraft routinely travel from a distance "above" a star's north or south pole to rendezvous with planets orbiting in the star system's orbital plane. ...
Scottoooooo's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
1k views

Possibility of solar powered space stations around a red dwarf

I have an earth-like world orbiting an M7 red dwarf on the outer edge of the habitable zone(0.0443AU). Since red dwarfs emit more infrared light than visible light, solar panels would probably not be ...
Fox Studios's user avatar
10 votes
8 answers
5k views

Space-ships and stations...made from cast-iron?

If there's two things i love, it's space-flight, and late 19th century technology, and i hope to implement as much of the latter into as much of the former in my current setting. And one thing that ...
NimRad's user avatar
  • 898
1 vote
4 answers
170 views

How would a species without optical vision navigate a spaceship? [duplicate]

I wanted to create an alien species with an interstellar civilization, but the twist is that they never developed eyes, due to evolving on a planet far enough away from its star that it’s shrouded in ...
Daikyu Maryu's user avatar
  • 1,153
0 votes
2 answers
284 views

How to protect against laser blinding warfare?

Here is the problem: You have a spaceship, with cameras and view ports, and there is a new laser technique going around: Simply shoot cameras with your laser, and blind anyone who tries to peer ...
Kraken Writhing's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
58 views

Viability of lasers in space [duplicate]

Specifically, if lasers were to be used as a weapon, or as a mining tool, for a spaceship, would it be at all practical? Most spaceships in my world are made of aluminum and/or titanium, at least ...
Kraken Writhing's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Amount of antimatter needed to propel large spacecraft?

Okay, So i'm not really into physics or mathematics but i'm trying my best to learn some bit of how the calculations needed for the amount of antimatter needed to propel a spacecrafft to relativistic ...
Ashimix's user avatar
  • 567
4 votes
2 answers
725 views

Spacecraft Design of a Cold-Blooded Humanoid Race

I was talking with a friend recently and he reasoned that a cold-blooded race would take longer to get to space, but survive more easily once the technology progressed enough. The rationale was that a ...
hjk321's user avatar
  • 195
0 votes
0 answers
29 views

Minimum circumference of a rotating spacecraft with artificial gravity [duplicate]

In a rotating spacecraft that can generate artificial gravity similar to Earth’s, what would be the minimum circumference of the rotating system that would allow humans to comfortably live and work ...
Aelion's user avatar
  • 1
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 ...
Kugelblitz's user avatar
6 votes
8 answers
3k views

Feasibility of “invisible” orbital bombs

The fleet is in orbit around the planet. The enemy is in a similar orbit, and they vastly outnumber the allies. The allies have a plan, ‘invisible’ bombs, incapable of being seen will float in orbit ...
Blue Skin and Glowing Red Eyes's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
91 views

Practical effects of Torchship-strength Magnetic Nozzles [closed]

In a sci-fi universe with high-end interplanetary torchship technology (think the Expanse), high-speed space travel is normalized, with ships of all sizes regularly traveling between planets on the ...
Ciac32's user avatar
  • 17
2 votes
3 answers
304 views

What kind of interior doors make sense on a space station?

We are on an orbiting research station in the near-ish future (100-200 years from now?)—like the ISS but bigger and with a little more space for comfort and convenience. My protagonists have been ...
SeriousHatOn's user avatar
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. ...
KeizerHarm's user avatar
  • 14.4k
3 votes
1 answer
248 views

Seeking chart of nebula particle density vs. ship velocity

The traditional Sci-Fi nebula is thick as ketchup (I'm lookin' at you Star Trek!) but the reality of nebulae we know about is that a pilot wouldn't even notice that they're in one due to particle ...
JBH's user avatar
  • 117k
5 votes
6 answers
2k views

Would a nebula cause resistance and disrupt sensors on a space ship?

If a ship is moving through a nebula, would it slow down due to the gases and dust in the cloud, and would it prevent things like radar from having as much range as they usually could? I want to ...
Chuck's user avatar
  • 1,399
23 votes
24 answers
6k views

What would stop a large spaceship from looking like a flying brick?

In the far future, galactic space travel is now a common reality, and spaceships reach sizes of over 1 kilometer in length. Any capital ship in existence would therefore be designed for functionality, ...
WarpPrime's user avatar
  • 999
2 votes
1 answer
134 views

Alt-history continuation of Dynasoar program

Just hopping over from SpaceExploration I'd like to know how realistic a use-case the DynaSoar spacecraft would be for a Titan descent craft, in terms of in-universe realism. I'm assuming no far-...
Anti Elon Guy's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
167 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,...
Ahmed Tawfik's user avatar
29 votes
11 answers
7k views

What parts of a spaceship would still work 100 million years later?

A spacecraft designed for interstellar travel is discovered 100 million years later. What pieces of it still work, what parts would be easily repairable, and what would still be even vaguely ...
Zags's user avatar
  • 2,705
-1 votes
2 answers
145 views

How does a Person survive an intergalactic voayage?

Intergalactic voyages are long, they go over quite large distances, but you, a human in the Milky Way, want to see a galaxy beyond our own with your own eyes and live there. At 99% the speed of light, ...
skout's user avatar
  • 2,068
4 votes
2 answers
644 views

How Much of the Universe Could Humanity Conquer?

Imagine that less than a million years from now, probably in the hundreds of thousands, humanity has spread throughout the galaxy. There are afew aliens here and there, but that is insignificant, they ...
skout's user avatar
  • 2,068
1 vote
1 answer
199 views

Would this design for a generational star ship be realistic for traveling to Alpha Centauri?

https://www.tinkercad.com/things/6hFXA0L0dOW I am writing a story with where the main character discovers this ship traveling to Alpha Centauri because our solar system has been devoured by a black ...
user11937382's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
576 views

Near-instantaneous inter-star communication utilising wormholes

This is my first question on the worldbuilding stack exchange, I discovered this place last night when double-checking that my world's river-carving-through-a-mountain-range is possible (it was, which ...
Katy's user avatar
  • 127
3 votes
1 answer
753 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 ...
bird's user avatar
  • 39
6 votes
5 answers
2k views

Could standard aircraft(planes, helicopers, etc.) work as spacecraft in this world?

Ok, so I have this world(or maybe it will just be a dimension depending on how things pan out) called 'The Weird' that has air in space, like Earthlike air(for the most part). Also, the 'planets' or ...
Conan Highwoods's user avatar
4 votes
6 answers
332 views

Alternatives to electricity for energy distribution in a spaceship?

Basically, I want the aesthetics of "EPS conduits" without the soft-sci-fi handwaving of actual Star-Trekian EPS conduits. Is there some system for distributing large amounts of power around ...
Logan R. Kearsley's user avatar
16 votes
13 answers
3k views

Is a "20th century" spacefaring civilization plausible?

This civilization has computational technology roughly equivalent to Earth's in the late 20th century. We're talking post-moon landing, but pre-Internet (roughly 1969-1983). They may or may not have ...
DMacc1917's user avatar
  • 946
7 votes
3 answers
590 views

Interception of missiles in space combat

How to approach this problem! Numerically. Trying to find some closed form equation to spit things out is extremely difficult, especially in the face of how well this lends itself to numeric methods. ...
cthon's user avatar
  • 327
1 vote
2 answers
171 views

How fast can a cylinder spin, with a human on its inner wall, to NOT experience motion sickness?

Context I'm working on an interstellar Ark made of a few (probably 3 to be more specific) layers of cylinders (modified O'Neil's concept), while trying to get the station to be as compact as possible. ...
Yulian's user avatar
  • 432
3 votes
3 answers
366 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 ...
AllSeeingEye33's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
407 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 ...
ScholarMoth's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
187 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 ...
dashort1's user avatar
1 vote
4 answers
538 views

is wood a viable material to build space craft?

So, Im writing a sci-fi universe, and a species in said universe is a low-population fox-like humanoid race who live on a forest-covered world. With a society that's like a summer camp and a tech ...
redfrogcrab's user avatar
  • 1,336
14 votes
15 answers
2k views

Designing a portable space elevator

So, I have been trying to come up with ideas for space launch without rockets for this sci-if project, but then something occurred to me: rather than have craft jumping off and onto a planet’s surface,...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,459
2 votes
2 answers
187 views

How long would it take for an AI to build spaceships if it starts from 0? [closed]

I am writing a story were an AI, 1000 years in the future, wants to build spaceships to go into deep space. It has all the information available for humans until the year 2100, when the global ...
Julián Facundo Rinaudo's user avatar
6 votes
12 answers
3k views

What is the best design for trans-atmospheric cargo ship?

Backdrop This is set in a world after an empire-state that controlled the entire solar system fell. They have incredibly efficient catalyzed direct fusion drives, which powers the heavy mining and ...
Sam Kitsune's user avatar
  • 1,984
-2 votes
2 answers
155 views

What is the difference between space-planes and rockets? [closed]

The Background Well... for the first time, sort of, I have a question that doesn't tie directly into anything else. To define what I'm referring to, because I don't actually know the correct ...
Sam Kitsune's user avatar
  • 1,984
2 votes
3 answers
93 views

Orbital mechanics- 2 objects, different mass same trajectory

I have a multi-ring space station built around an asteroid, but not physically connected. Station has significantly more mass than the asteroid. As the two approach a star and swing around it, will ...
user100938's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
467 views

What is the minimum specifications for a ship to survive propulsive reentry?

Backdrop In the ending of my book, the closing scene is the control room of the mangled and torn-up starship diving into the atmosphere (maybe not so dramatic) on its fusion engines, slowing down and ...
Sam Kitsune's user avatar
  • 1,984
4 votes
1 answer
207 views

How to harvest/produce industrial amounts of metallic hydrogen

For those not versed in theoretical states of matter, Metallic Hydrogen is a semi-fluid phase of hydrogen that acts like a metal, able to conduct electrons. It's also theorized to be potent rocket ...
redfrogcrab's user avatar
  • 1,336
2 votes
1 answer
140 views

Maximum speed of 100% reflective light sails

So, it’s the 23rd century, and due to the cost of fuel these days, people are exploring new methods of interplanetary travel that does not require reaction mass. Light sails spring to mind. Modern ...
user98816's user avatar
  • 8,459
0 votes
2 answers
110 views

What would be the most effective shape for interlocking starfighters? [closed]

This is a question relating to my Safespace sci-fi setting, in which the Unified Intergalactic League attempts to keep peace between the litany of sapiods (a classification for intelligent creatures ...
Jobah_HigherMind's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
487 views

What would a laser-powered interstellar cargo ship look like?

Blurb What would a ship with a 100 thousand tonne budged that needs to carry cryo-frozen cargo through 20 lightyears of interstellar space at 0.35C coasting velocity, using laser sails at both ends of ...
Sam Kitsune's user avatar
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