Hyperdrive

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This article is about a hypothetical method of space travel. For the BBC TV series, see Hyperdrive (TV series)

Hyperdrive is a name given to certain methods of traveling faster than light (FTL) in science fiction. Related concepts are jump drive and warp drive.

The idea of hyperdrive in most science fiction relies on the existence of a separate and adjacent dimension most commonly called "hyperspace," though various other names have been used: "Drivespace," "The Immaterium," "slipspace," "Space₂," "subspace," "Zero-space," etc. When activated, the hyperdrive shunts the starship into this other dimension, where it can cover vast distances in an amount of time greatly reduced from the time it would take in "real" space. Once it reaches the point in hyperspace that corresponds to its destination in real space, it re-emerges. Usually, hyperdrive refers to a method of travel in which it takes a measurable amount of time to go from one point to another. When the distance is covered instantaneously, the term jump drive is often used.

Explanations of why ships can travel faster than light in hyperspace vary; hyperspace may be smaller than real space or provide a shortcut between two points in real space, thus effectively increasing the ship's speed by reducing distance travelled rather than speed, or the speed of light in hyperspace is not a barrier as it is in real space. Whatever the reasoning, the general effect is that ships traveling in hyperspace seem to have broken the speed of light, appearing at their destinations much quicker and without the shift in time that the Theory of Relativity would suggest.

1 Characteristics
2 Examples
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Characteristics

While in hyperspace, starships are typically isolated from the normal universe; they cannot communicate with nor perceive things in real space until they emerge. Often there can be no interaction between two ships even when both are in hyperspace. To people traveling in hyperspace, time typically moves at its normal pace, with little or no time dilation; 24 hours in hyperspace equates to 24 hours in real space. One exception is David Brin's Uplift Universe; here, hyperspace is divided into "levels" where time passes at different rates. Hyperspace itself may be portrayed as swirling colors, total blackness, or as something that would drive a human mind insane should it be viewed.

In much science fiction, hyperdrive jumps require a considerable amount of planning and calculation, with any error carrying a threat of dire consequences. Therefore, jumps may cover a much shorter distance than would actually be possible so that the navigator can stop to "look around" -- take his bearings, plot his position, and plan the next jump. The time it takes to travel in hyperspace also varies. Travel times may be in hours, days, weeks or more.

Hyperdrives allow for drama in science fiction by eliminating the single biggest problem with space as a setting for a story: the vast majority of space is empty and thus more or less uninteresting. As in most depictions of hypersace ships with hyperdrive can typically only interact with other ships while in "normal space", they would have to drop out of hyperspace to interact, and the chance of two ships appearing at the same locus in deep space to take a navigation bearing at the same time is infinitesimal. Therefore, hyperdrive ships will encounter each other most often around contested planets or space stations, which can be light-years apart. Hyperdrive may also allow for dramatic escapes as the pilot "jumps" to hyperspace in the midst of battle to avoid destruction. It also provides the means by which the literally astronomical distances between stars can be traversed in such a way that would enable an author to have a plot that deals with multiple star systems in a reasonable amount of time, something generally impossible if speeds less than the speed of light are observed. Authors that write about interstellar cultures without hyperdrives generally wind up with plots that last for centuries or more, something not all authors are willing to do.

In some science fiction, hyperspace travel is portrayed as potentially dangerous due to the chance that the route through hyperspace may take the ship too close to a celestial body with a large gravitational field, such as a star, or a blackhole. In such scenarios, if a starship passes too close to a large gravitational field while in hyperspace, the ship is forcibly pulled out of hyperspace and reverts to normal space, or in some stories, is destroyed. Therefore, certain hyperspace "routes" may be mapped out that are safe, not passing too close to stars or other dangers. In some science-fiction universes, such as Star Wars, artificial gravity wells may be used to force another vessel to drop out of hyperspace. Other portrayals show less interaction between normal space and hyperspace, so that ships may actually pass through the position taken up by a celestial body in real space, without being affected. Given how critical transportation is to every human culture, it is unsurprising that an interstellar culture, which must deal with distances orders of magnitude greater than terrestrial cultures, the unique ways in which interstellar travel is described in various fictional universes tends to create major plot elements in that universe.