How fast is FTL, and what exactly is it? (SPOILERS)

[Senzune]

Spoiler:

Last episode (Lost), it was mentioned several times that the distances in and inbetween galaxies are underestimated. What also occured is that the Destiny drops out of FTL at distances within reach of stargates in a set area, almost next to the previous area in which the boys got lost.

This got me thinking. Hyperspeed travel to Atlantis takes about 13 weeks, using the Daedalus. FTL travel between mentioned areas takes.. days?

Now, we also know that hyperspeed travel takes place in hyperspace. We have a slight understanding of how that dimension relates to our regular space. But how does FTL work?

[magictrick]

This is an Ancient ship so presumably the technology it has allows it to travel significantly faster in between galaxies. Then again, I don't think it was specified how long they expect the trip between galaxies to take, so we don't know for sure.

In the past SG shows intergalactic travel was achieved through hyperspace window. Basically its like tunneling through space since space is curved and its a huge shortcut over long distances. I haven't seen them opening hyperspace windows on SGU yet, so presumable the technology for FTL is different on Destiny.

[EternalAlteran]

We'll it sure ain't hyperspace. Rush mentioned it. And the destiny (and the blue aliens' ship) entering FTL looked very different than the Hammond entering hyperspace. To me, it seems unlikely that it is as fast as an intergalactic hyperdrive, because otherwise the Ancients never would have invented their hyperdrives.

It brings up an interesting problem. What if Destiny takes many years to travel between galaxies, how does the crew survive without food and water.

[lordofseas]

We won't know how fast the hyperdrives can go unless we get time and distance factors.

[yet]

From Memory so i may be wrong, on an episode of Atlantis an ancient ship was found traveling in FTL in the void because the hyperdrive was damaged and they had suffered from big time dilation and had travelled for months posibly years and were not in staisus.
Don't almost all the ships use FTL but in hyperspace for speed and avoids Time dilation.? Destiny's Ftl looks different so maby it avoids TD, maby the one in Atlantis didn't need the advanced ftl because it's expected to be in H.S ??

[Houd]

I find it most likely that it would take many months, even years to get from 1 galaxy to another. So I expect that Rush will get control of Destiny soon, and turn it around, aswell as letting SGU stick to one galaxy, atleast for now.

[Mike.]

From Memory so i may be wrong, on an episode of Atlantis an ancient ship was found traveling in FTL in the void because the hyperdrive was damaged and they had suffered from big time dilation and had travelled for months posibly years and were not in staisus.
Don't almost all the ships use FTL but in hyperspace for speed and avoids Time dilation.? Destiny's Ftl looks different so maby it avoids TD, maby the one in Atlantis didn't need the advanced ftl because it's expected to be in H.S ??

The Tria (Aurora-class) was not traveling Faster Than Light, but close (.999 of light speed), in normal space using conventional engines - this is why they suffered from time dilation. These effects do not occur when using hyperspace or Destiny's FTL.

[Rise Of The Phoenix]

Spoiler:

Last episode (Lost), it was mentioned several times that the distances in and inbetween galaxies are underestimated. What also occured is that the Destiny drops out of FTL at distances within reach of stargates in a set area, almost next to the previous area in which the boys got lost.

This got me thinking. Hyperspeed travel to Atlantis takes about 13 weeks, using the Daedalus. FTL travel between mentioned areas takes.. days?

Now, we also know that hyperspeed travel takes place in hyperspace. We have a slight understanding of how that dimension relates to our regular space. But how does FTL work?

I have to point out that the 304's Hyperdrive Engines allow for travel from Earth to Atlantis in 18 days using the ship's standard power sources, I believe this is stated in a number of different episodes and it's also mentioned in the gateworld omnipedia.

As for how fast Destiny's FTL is, it's unknown I know some members of the forum have tried to come up with some figures but I don't think it's possible to state with any certainty just how fast or slow the ship is relative to other vessels on the shows.
Until we get rush, eli or some other member of the crew stating something like "the void between this galaxy and the next is X Light Years and it will take Y Months, Days, Hours or Minutes to traverse that distance under maximum speed" we won't know.

As far as what the FTL drive is or how makes it possible for the ship to travel Faster Than Light, I'd guess that from the way the visuals look Destiny surrounds itself with some kind of Star Trek type warp bubble, I don't know what else it could be, especially if it's not a kind of hyperdrive or wormhole drive thing.

BTW this isn't a new topic, we have had threads similar to this one in the past, no offense but maybe next time have a look around the science tech folder for this kind of discussion.

[Ben 'Teal'c would WIN!!' Noble]

BTW this isn't a new topic, we have had threads similar to this one in the past, no offense but maybe next time have a look around the science tech folder for this kind of discussion.

I know, couldn't the mods murge all the Destiny FTL discussions into one like 'everything you ever wanted to know about the Destinys FTL'

[BobbyScars]

Also keep in mind that Pegasus is close to the Milky Way, thus the relative ease for traveling between the two. But yes it may take a long time for Destiny to Travel to the new galaxy.

[Rob23]

647,234 miles an hour

[thekillman]

Also keep in mind that Pegasus is close to the Milky Way, thus the relative ease for traveling between the two. But yes it may take a long time for Destiny to Travel to the new galaxy.

the closest galaxy is 50 000 LY's, there are a dozen galaxies within 1 Million lightyears. Pegasus is quite far, actually. it's near the edge of the Local Group.



in terms of speed, i think Destiny's FTL is a primitive hyperdrive. like in Grace, the ship surrounds itself with a hyperfield and only partially descends into subspace. it then can accellerate and reach infinite speeds, but it has to decellerate as well.


so on short ranges it is incredibly slow, on long ranges *like intergalactic* it can accellerate much longer and reach massive speeds.

that's just a theory.

another is, that subspace in galaxies is much denser. the reason is simple: hyperdrives within galaxies are dozens of times slower. the intergalactic void is crossed in 16 days, the galaxy in just 2, even though the galaxy is dozens and dozens of times smaller. the MW is 1/30th of the intergalactic distance, but it takes 2 days to cross.
because of this, FTL's subspace field will have a different effect outside of a galaxy. this essentially means that outside of a galaxy, the speed increases massively because the resistance is much less

[vszulc]

LOL! Gotta love it, when people treat a TV show like it's factual.

(BTW: Ever notice how they're always very vague on SGA, SG1 and SGU when it comes to speed and specs?)

The hyperdrive goes as fast as the writers need it to go in a particular episode. If they need it to go faster for some reason, one of the characters comes up with a modification of some sorts. Easy as that.

[thekillman]

LOL! Gotta love it, when people treat a TV show like it's factual.

yes it's fun.

The hyperdrive goes as fast as the writers need it to go in a particular episode. If they need it to go faster for some reason, one of the characters comes up with a modification of some sorts. Easy as that

please don't try to appear as smart.

[Mike.]

LOL! Gotta love it, when people treat a TV show like it's factual.

(BTW: Ever notice how they're always very vague on SGA, SG1 and SGU when it comes to speed and specs?)

The hyperdrive goes as fast as the writers need it to go in a particular episode. If they need it to go faster for some reason, one of the characters comes up with a modification of some sorts. Easy as that.

They're vague because:
- they don't want the show to have star trek levels of technobabble
- they're not actual scientists so they're not qualified to give exact numbers for every scientific bit
- keeping track of calculations after hundreds of episodes would be an insanely difficult task, especially since it's all fictional
- not pinpointing specifics gives them some leeway for future episodes
- they won't be in a position to mess up some math by accident and have the fandom laugh at them


The same goes for ship sizes and power.

Ships: actual numbers are mostly meaningless, you have get the feel the writers had for that particular vessel - through comparisons - ex:
- the Prometheus is smaller than Daedalus,
- a cruiser is smaller than a hive but still bigger than a scout ship;
- you can fit a stargate (even though it's slightly larger) on the bottom of a 302, a 302 and a death glider can just barely fit through a stargate i.e. "threading the needle" (-Bra'tac).

Power:
a)weapons:
- Ori beams own anything instantly except asgard shields
- Asgard beams own anything equal and lower than Ori vessels, can destroy hive ships with one shot if lucky
- Ori ships own Hat'aks => so can Asgard beams
- Ancient Satellite beam - more powerful than the Agard beam - can cut a hiveship in half with ease

b) power sources - look for what happens when they overload or discharge at once
- small naquadah generator = nuke,
- mark "X" bombs -> several (the number represented by "X") times stronger than a regular nuke/naquadah generator
- naquadah asteroid = small nova, can devastate and cook planets from a considerable distance
- ZPM = can completely obliterate almost a whole solar system => super nova
- naquadah planet = the equivalent of a huge number of naq asteroids = huge number of small novas combined => more powerful than a ZPM

Since the writers are not scientists these are the only valid reference points - approximations about how big blast something would cause, or what kinds of weapons are superior in a fight and very rough comparisons between ships (i.e. hiveship = really fu***g big in relation to anything else). You have to try to figure out what the writers were thinking and focus less on numbers in pseudo (more like not ) canon magazines or conflicting VFX shots. Imagine what they would imagine.

yes it's fun.

Indeed.