Have you ever wondered what it's like to experience an intergalactic war up close? Well, that's the mission statement of yours truly, along with the creators of the shows I will list. And I've been thinking I should change some things… Our hyper-advanced computer scanners have allowed us to browse hundreds of space battles, searching endlessly for the truths of physics in these epic conflicts. But there’s a catch — in these space battles, a lot of what we see simply wouldn’t work in real life.
Premise One: No Parties in Space 😭🚫🕺💃
Have you ever considered the fact that a party in space would actually be pretty boring? The silence would be so deafening, you'd barely be able to hear yourself speak.
You might say the latter’s pretty regular for parties while the former is obvious, but apparently, the creators of Star Wars: A New Hope might disagree with you.
The Star Wars early trilogy has long been famed for its taste for spectacle and its lively sound palette in space battles.
Sonic bursts of multi-coloured lasers, brilliant explosions, raucous engines, and aerial-sounding vehicular chases fill the air.
To be sure, the image conjured up is a lively one to say the least, but it’s not like people are gathered round talking in strange apparel and atmospheric warm lighting, right?
I trust by now you might have caught onto the fact that Star Wars happens to be the biggest offender of realistic physics in the history of space battles in media.
A lofty title, to be sure, and yet not an unearned one. The next time you watch a Star Wars scene, I’d like to employ this method of thought.
Ahem. No parties in space!
No air to carry shockwaves, speak, or carry the atmospheric noises of ships moving in space, and no oxygen to cause the brilliant fiery flame-like explosions we so often see in the Star Wars universe.
Which means, yes, no Death Star blow-up scene.
Or at least one that’s a lot more boring.
Let’s go over that again: sounds need a medium. Sound waves need matter to travel through and create areas of high and low pressure in a given piece of matter, travelling through until it reaches your ears.
Since space is a vacuum (a place void of matter), there is literally nothing sound can use to travel.
The same principle applies to shockwaves, which similarly need a medium in order to be created by the transfer of energy through that medium.
Premise 2: No Theme Park Rides, No Sharp Swerves, No Sharp Stops 🛑🎢
I trust if you're reading this article you've seen enough space documentaries to know how hard it is to control movement in space.
Due to the principles of inertia and space being a vacuum, controlling a ship with no resistance is pretty hard and requires a massive amount of energy and fuel.
So, at the very least, there would be no race car-like swerves or sharp stops like the ones we see sprinkled into space fights in narrow chase scenes.
The absence of friction means that once a ship is in motion, it would continue at that speed unless acted upon by a force.
For example, in Battlestar Galactica, while we do see fast-paced action, the movement of ships is still far more realistic in terms of gradual acceleration or deceleration compared to the sharp turns and stops you might see in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.
The Rules of Engagement 📑
A few rules of engagement in a space battle would have to follow certain principles grounded in physics.
Let's consider a few factors that would impact space combat:
1. Lasers and Their Effectiveness Based on Distance: 🔫
In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, we see lasers being used in epic battles, but in reality, the effectiveness of lasers would diminish over distance due to the dispersal of energy.
The longer the distance, the weaker the laser would become as the energy spreads out.
This would mean that close-range laser combat would be far more effective.
2. Energy and Heat Management: 🔥❄🧊
A battle in space would also involve managing the internal temperature of the ship.
In The Expanse, for instance, heat management becomes a significant concern.
Spacecraft would need to factor in long wait times off cooldown periods so they don’t overheat after firing powerful weapons.
Ships’ internal systems would generate heat from their weapons, propulsion, and energy use, and there would be an ongoing balance between cooling down and staying ready for the next attack.
3. Shields and Protection: 🛡🛡
In Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, we see shields absorbing massive energy blasts, but in a realistic scenario, shields would have an energy threshold.
Once exceeded, they would fail, leaving the ship vulnerable.
Shields would not be perfect — they would protect up to a point, but if a sufficiently powerful force entered the shield’s range, the energy would transfer to the ship.
If too much energy enters the shield, it could lead to catastrophic failures, especially with regards to the ship's heat management and internal systems.
4. Gravity: 🍏👴
In Star Wars: Episode VIII– The Last Jedi, the film features dramatic sequences where ships move in ways that defy gravity in a realistic sense.
Space combat would be incredibly difficult if gravity weren’t accounted for, and while small forces can be applied to a ship in deep space, you would not see dramatic gravitational effects unless near a planet or a large mass.
Gravity would influence how ships accelerate and decelerate, but in the vast emptiness of space, objects would continue their motion unless actively slowed down or redirected.
Conclusion 🧠
Okay now that we’ve established our space battle with no roller coasters and conditions of engagement.
We've combined speculation from our finest experts, state of the art technology, our top graphic space simulation and physics engineers have conjured us a magnificent representation of a realistic space battle.
Ahem! Oh. uhm… Well you’d probably get much more of a kick from watching battleship anyway.
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