Questions tagged [space]
For questions related to outer space, stellar systems, stars and other astronomical phenomena.
1,589 questions
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Fires spread through centrifugal gravity systems
I was wondering about an emergency that arises in my story and would like to see if my understanding of fire and space habitats is enough to create a realistic situation. That situation being that a ...
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Feasibility of long-range kinetic weapons in space being slung by a gravity field to hit a target
Again, please put feedback in the comments! Also handwave the launching mechanism itself.
The Question
Suppose there is a craft mounted with a large kinetic weapon; like a large metal missile ...
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How could a low-gravity world keep its atmosphere?
I am currently creating an exoplanet for my hard sci-fi novel, and I have been encountering a bit of an issue.
The main pretty much non-negotiable aspects of this planet are:
It has a low gravity (0....
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Tidally locked, low-gravity world orbiting 61 Cygni A: plausibility and life probability
I'm building a planet for a hard sci-fi novel set in the 61 Cygni system and want to stress-test the physics before I commit to the worldbuilding. I've done my own calculations (shown below), but I'd ...
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If the day/night cycle of a planet is 13.5 minutes,how long would a month be? [closed]
Length of daytime: 13.5minutes
Length of nighttime:13.5minutes
Months:13
Type of planet:desert planet full,no water at all and large mountains
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Can a Fridge allow you to survive the Big Crunch?
Recent discoveries in real life have cast into doubt the previously held almost certain belief that a cold heat death would happen, and that the possibility of a future 'Big Crunch' would happen - ie. ...
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Additional moons affecting orbits of original moon
I have an earth-like planet orbiting a sun similar to ours. I currently have one moon orbiting the planet (statistics of the moon at the bottom) and I want to add a second moon that is a little larger ...
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Technological feasibility of transporting Martian water to Earth
I understand that this is an inherently ridiculous idea. Earth is covered in water already. But in our current reality, rich people on Earth pay for bottled water that's been shipped halfway around ...
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Why would humanity evacuate Earth instead of simply trying to destroy a huge asteroid?
Premise
I'm trying to write a story where an asteroid, from the Kuiper Belt, is going to hit Earth in about 2-3 years. Resulting in many major nations of Earth trying their best to evacuate before the ...
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Shotguns In Space
I'm working on a video game set in a hard(-ish) sci fi setting, and an issue has occurred to me regarding shotguns in space. Shotguns - in theory - are an excellent weapon against drones and such that ...
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Why build an industrial space station in close solar orbit?
For a somewhat hard science-fiction setting, set roughly around the 24th century, I had envisioned an industrial space station in close solar orbit (closer than Mercury at least).
However, I started ...
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Where do human-like species make their homes in the galaxy if they can choose?
Imagine you're building a setting where humans and/or biologically similar species have dispersed among the stars over a very long time, such that they span thousands of lightyears, and let's say you'...
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At what speed does the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation become lethal
Background
Far future humanity has set its sight on widespread inter-galactic colonization. Due to advancements in a variety of technologies, the ability to move at an arbitrarily high fraction of the ...
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Hard sci-fi: Could a Dyson sphere's thermal effects cause Earth's gravity to increase?
I'm writing a hard science fiction story set in the 30th century. I want the physics to be internally consistent even if speculative.
The Scenario:
Humanity builds a Dyson sphere that concentrates ...
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What sort of astronomical natural disasters could a Type II-III civilization NOT anticipate or avert?
I found a similar question but the scale was too large. I'm wondering what sort of astronomical disasters could affect a civilization roughly between Type II and III. Really, I'm wondering what sort ...
