An event that is simultaneous for you would not be simultaneous for your friend. If your friend were to ride on a train traveling close to the speed of light as the fireworks were launched, that friend would see the fireworks launch at different times. From your perspective, they launch at precisely the same moment. That seems easy enough and unrelated to hyperspace, but the concept of simultaneity throws a wrench into everything.Ĭonsider the following: you are sitting on a chair next to a high-speed railroad track, and you decide to launch two fireworks at the same time, one on either side. More simply, for one event to cause a second event, the first event must happen before the second.
One is the idea that cause and effect rely on things happening in a particular order. There are problems with this theoretical explanation. It seems as if the Millennium Falcon traveled “faster than light.” If Owen turned on a laser pointed directly at Alderaan (and we assume that there are no obstructions and the beam will stay accurately aimed enough to be detectable at Alderaan) at the same moment the Millennium Falcon jumped into hyperspace, the Millennium Falcon would arrive before the laser beam reached Alderaan. For example, consider the flight from Tatooine to Alderaan. This allows for faster-than-light speeds (in a sense). These extra dimensions are able to connect distant points in real space. Hyperspace is, in theory, a set of extra dimensions beyond the three that we experience daily. “Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova.” With such severe risks, it is important to rely upon hyperdrive computers. “Traveling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops,” as Han Solo explains. But going to hyperspace is not without its dangers. In order to do this, a ship must be equipped with a hyperdrive. In Star Wars, hyperspace is extra-dimensional space through which ships can travel so as to move across the galaxy faster than would be allowed by traveling through real space.
But how realistic are these suggestions? Are there more than three dimensions? Is it possible to travel faster than light? What is a wormhole and how would it allow us to travel great distances in a short amount of time? Backstory Some of these theories take advantage of additional dimensions that we cannot see. Theories proposing how one could travel faster than the speed of light have been put forth, ranging from wormholes to tesseracts to time travel.
According to this theory, the speed of light is not only a constant, but also the universal speed limit. In 1905 Einstein formalized his theory of special relativity. On the other hand, these are obviously works of fiction is there any point in applying those laws? My book makes the case that is is both fun and worthwhile to do so for a range of Star Wars technologies, including the one of its most important: hyperspace. If you’re already a Star Wars fan, you know that the stories take place in a galaxy far, far away, so the laws of physics should still apply.