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About|a vehicle for interstellar travelA starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel|traveling between the stars , as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel .
The term is mostly found in science fiction , as humanity has not yet constructed such vehicles (while the Voyager program|Voyager and Pioneer program|Pioneer probes have traveled into local interstellar space, they are not generally considered starships because they have not traveled to other star|stars and also because they are not vessels ). However, exploratory engineering has been undertaken on several preliminary designs and feasibility study|feasibility studies for starships that could be built with modern technology or technology thought likely to be available in the near future.
Research
To travel between stars in a reasonable time using rocket -like technology requires very high effective exhaust velocity exhaust jet, and enormous energy to power this, such as might be provided by fusion power or antimatter .
There are very few scientific studies that investigate the issues in building a starship. Some examples of this include:
The Bussard ramjet is an idea to use nuclear fusion of interstellar gas to provide propulsion.
Other ideas involve going more slowly and building a generation ship , or trying to exceed the speed of light in some way, such as creating and maintaining a wormhole .
Examined in an October 1973 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact|Analog , the Enzmann Starship proposed using a 12,000 ton ball of frozen deuterium to power thermonuclear powered pulse propulsion units. http://enzmannstarship.com/Page_2.html Enzmann Starship Twice as long as the Empire State Building and assembled in-orbit, the spacecraft was part of a larger project preceded by interstellar probe s and telescopic observation of target star systems. http://www.centauri-dreams.org/? p=1142 Centari Dreams: A Note on the Enzmann Starship by Paul Gilster on April 1, 2007
The NASA Breakthrough Propulsion Physics Program (1996–2002), was a professional scientific study examining advanced spacecraft propulsion systems.
Fictional types
A common literary device is to posit a faster-than-light spacecraft propulsion|propulsion system (such as Warp drive (Star Trek)|warp drive ) or travel through Hyperspace (science fiction)|hyperspace , although some starships may be outfitted for century|centuries -long journeys of slower-than-light travel. Other designs posit a way to boost the ship to near-lightspeed, allowing relatively "quick" travel (i.e. decades, not centuries) to nearer stars. This results in a general categorization of the kinds of starships:
Sleeper ship|Sleeper , which put their passengers into Stasis (fiction)|stasis during a long trip.
Generation ship|Generation , where the destination will be reached by descendants of the original passengers.
Theory of relativity|Relativistic , taking advantage of time dilation at close-to-light-speeds, so long trips will seem much shorter (but still take the same amount of time for outside observers).
Faster-than-light , which can move between places very quickly (transcending current understanding of physics or using interdimensional 'shortcuts').
Fictional elements
Certain common elements are found in most fiction that discusses starships.
Slower-than-light
main|Generation shipFiction that discusses slower-than-light starships is relatively rare, since the time scales are so long. Instead of describing the interaction with the outside world, those fictions tend to focus on setting the whole story within the world of the (often very large) starship during its long travels. Sometimes the starship is a world, in perception or reality.
Faster-than-light
main|Faster-than-light Travel at velocities greater than the speed of light is impossible according to the known laws of physics , although apparent Faster-than-light|FTL is not excluded by general relativity. An example of a faster-than-light ship is the Enterprise from Star Trek: The Original Series . In September 2011, however, CERN and OPERA announced that time of flight measurements made by their collaboration had indicated muon neutrinos traveling apparently at faster than lightspeed (see: Faster-than-light neutrino anomaly ).
Exceptions
Exceedingly large spacegoing craft (for example the Death Star of the Star Wars universe) are typically not referred to as 'starships' (but see 'slower-than-light ships' above). Terms like planetoid|(artificial) planetoid may be considered to be more accurate.
Space station s and other structures intended to orbit a celestial body or serve as a point of contact/ space dock|maintenance/docking station for other ships are not usually called starships, even if they can move under their own power.
Fictional examples
main|List of fictional spaceships#InterstellarThe following is a listing of some of the most widely known vessels in various science fiction franchises:
