About time for another one of these:
So you have decided that you are going to have your sci-fi enter the big black of Outer Space but thats when you realise its BIG and not just BIG its MASSIVE. So much in fact that a Lightyear is the distance it takes light to travel in a year and we all know that Light speed is pretty damn fast and for it to take a year... that is one helleva distance to cover.
So how you gonna go about it? your solution will be an important keystone to your sci-fi, setting the tone and style. So lets have a look at the two options:
- Slower than Light
- Lightspeed/Faster than Light
Slower Then Light
STL travel is currently the most realistic and viable form of travel. You won't be getting anywhere in a hurry but you'll be keeping it real as it were. The problem is that you are limited to short distances because of the human lifespan is short (you could either extend the lifespan, or maybe replace the crew with machines but thats something else) so how can you travel vast distances without running out of lifespan? here are a couple of possible solutions.
Generation Ships - A very large spaceship (possibly a hollowed out asteroid) contains an entire community of people. As the ship heads to its destination generations are born, have children and die.
So what would happen with a sci-fi with this ship? Is it just a setting for a plot? Perhaps its the beginning of the journey constructing, launching, crewing, maybe its in the middle of the journey and they hit trouble or maybe its their arrival at the destination and they build their new home.
What's going to happen to the people? How do they change over the course of the journey (mentally, physically) Have they forgetton things? Have they're ideals changed? Have they formed into factions? civil war?
Sleeper ships - The crew are put into suspended animation for the duration of the ships trip and the ship is left on automatic, not alot is going to happen in transit unless the crew are "woken up" for emergencies or general maintainence perhaps you have a crew that alternates being suspended or not. Otherwise your dealing with the beginning of the journey or the end when the reach their destination. One of the points here is that time moves on whilst they are in S.A. so when they wake things will have changed, perhaps they go from earth and back again to find everything has changed, friends, family are long gone, etc.
Seed Ships - A small ship loaded with embryos that are frozen and then defrosted and grown at the destination. Cared for by either machines (or possibly a merger with the sleeper ship and have "parents" in suspended animation.) It would be interesting to see the social development of a population raised by machines.
Obviously Suspended animation is a bit more speculative science, making the generation ship more viable if that is your aim although building such a ship must put a huge dent in someones economy.
Thats enough food for thought for now
Next time Part Two: Faster The Light
Strider Out!
