UNSC Codex: Slipspace

FASTER THAN LIGHT TRAVEL

DESCRIPTION:

Regarded as one of the greatest discoveries of any civilization anywhere in the universe, Faster Than Light travel quite simply, refers to any mode of transportation that can surpass the light-speed barrier. This is considered the ultimate test, as a civilization that could break through this physics milestone could be guaranteed continued existence. Immortality if you will. It is highly considered that those that are unworthy or do not have the technology to produce a Faster Than Light transportation method is doomed to die on their respective homeworld. Other scientists suggest that there are much more intelligent species that are stuck on their respective homeworlds. Not far enough in their evolutionary paths to even comprehend Faster Than Light Travel, as Doctor Francis Montague explains:

"The general idea is that every race must develop some form of Faster Than Light travel. It is believed that this is required for a civilization to achieve a state where it can survive even if the homeworld is destroyed by a cosmic, artificial, or biological disaster. We were not so different. Say, twelve hundred years ago, Humanity was stuck solely on Earth. We had no way to produce the energy to allow us to even travel half the speed of light, because according to Einstein, reaching the speed of light is impossible; it is the cosmic speed limit. We still believe Einstein was correct, but in 2290, we discovered the concept of Slipstream Space. This was our saving grace, even though we have used fusion engines to get around the solar system, we weren't getting to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri, which would take tens of thousands of years.

According to astrophysicists, Slipstream Space (contracted to Slipspace), subverts all the rules that would generally be associated with FTL speed, namely the fact that one shouldn't be able to travel faster than the speed of light.

E=Mc^2


Einstein's Mass-Equivalent Ratio (above), states that for an object to travel infinitely fast (represented as the constant 'c', or the 'speed of light'), it would need to have infinite mass (represented by 'm'), which would in turn require an infinite amount of energy. This method is still tried and true, but if Albert Einstein were to visit the 33rd Century, he would nearly flip.

SLIPSPACE

Coined as the greatest discovery in Human history, and any history for that matter, Slipspace is a 'never-never land' which allows ships to ignore the regular laws of physics and travel to nearby stars in a matter of days. This has evolved to commercially viable and practical interstellar flight, which was seen by some as a bit shocking. Slipspace is best represented by a sheet of paper. A basic FTL analogy is to simply fold the paper and slip through the holes left by the puncher. Doctor Imunah Al Jazeer (Ph. D, University of Athena) has a different view on Slipspace though:

"It was once said by the great Michio Kaku that FTL travel is akin to folding a paper in half. Slipstream space on the other hand is like taking the same sheet of paper, and crumpling it into a ball, then trying to put a ship through the puncher holes. It's difficult, energy consuming, but it is by far the only logical solution to go anywhere."

[For a more detailed look at Michio Kaku's views of Interstellar travel, pick up Hyperspace (c. 1994 CE)]

For the Human race, the credit for the method to burrow into Slipspace itself goes to Drs. Tobias Flemming Shaw (Ph. D, QeD, FRS) and Wallace Fujikawa (ScD, QEnD) in 2290, when these legendary men discovered the link between our world and the chaotic realm known as Slipspace. The physics of such a realm are different to those of what we perceive to be the universe. Slispace is not exactly a universe in its own right, but an extension of ours. Slipspace is hypothesized to consist of eleven dimensions in contrast to the known four that we experience (length, width, height, time) the nature of these dimensions is unknown. It is unlikely that they will ever be known, but they are influential on our society of a whole, as it allows us to expand out into the universe.

The method of tunnelling into this sub-universe is all particle physics. An accelerator which is in a standard Shaw-Fujikawa drive causes particles to lap around a tube and collide with one another. These rapid explosions of energy will cause micro-black holes appear in normal space, which is a gateway to Slipspace. These micro-black holes evaporate in a microsecond thanks to Hawking Radiation, but the drive stabilizes some of them and expands them through the following formula:

   a^' (t)=d/dt u^' (t)=d/dt u(t)-0=a(t)

Simply put, this formula assumes that two particles can exist at two separate points in space at the same time, but there is delay from one point to the other. This is Galilean Relativity. While Slipsptream avoids Time Dilation as seen in other forms of hypothetical Faster Than Light travel, there are inaccuracies or 'eddies' that occur in the transition, which account for a fraction of 'misplaced' time as represented by this formula:

T=a/at dT/Td U*f(T/Td TU))(∇d*fT/U)=Tf

The formula expressed above is known as Hiroshi's Principle, in which time at both the points of insertion and extraction is constant, but that the energy itself (represented by the inverse delta) is enough to modify the space-time continuum, and thus, change the transit time during Slipstream jumps.

[For a more direct look at the mathematical equations related to the structure of Slipspace, please consult Exodus: The Study of the Slipstream, by Doctors Tobias Flemming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa (c.2307)]

Slipspace is described as darkness through the entire journey, as no light is produced by any known stars. It is theorized that light is not perceived on this dimension of existence. That or the sheer number of dimensions that are overlapping each other simply blots out light through a number of variables.

[For more information on the nature of Slipspace, I recommend Dr. Thalius Kaiks Ludwik Beks' scientific monologue, The Nature of the Neverland, purchasable at any major bookstore]

Recently, through the accidental discovery of the Chaos Emeralds and their applications towards FTL travel, the entire concept of Slipspace needed a drastic rewrite (See article CHAOS EMERALDS) to accommodate these new developments. Through some manipulation of the space-time continuum, the vast amounts of power these tiny jewels command rips through multiple layers of space-time to enter whole other universes. The formula for which it does so is not available to the public, and very few are actually granted access to see the jewels and even less are allowed to study them. Travel time across such distances is hastened, although there is no sound way to predict where the passengers of such a flight will end up.


WAKE

Slipspace "wake" is the by-product of a successful jump. After a ship has cleared the area and initiated its slipspace jump, another ship can engage a similar jump on the same vector. Initiating a jump on this vector will allow a ship to increase their velocity to that of the former ship, truly bringing slipstream into the picture. Wake jumps can be performed to optimize time of transit, which is extremely handy for convoys of cargo ships. This is also a useful tactic for military vessels to chase a target ship that has jumped into Slipspace, although care must be exercised so that there are no enemy forces waiting for them on the other side.

COMMUNICATIONS IN SLIPSPACE

While ships cannot visually perceive one another in Slipspace due to the lack of light, they can communicate through tight-beam laser transmissions. This way they can keep in near-constant and instantaneous contact. However, once a ship passes beyond the bubble that is the effective range of such a beam, contact is broken, and a ship cannot simply slow down in such an exotic environment. There are horror stories of instances where ships have lost communication with their groups and ended up wandering the stars for dozens, perhaps hundreds of years.

[For a detailed account of just such an event, pick up Redoubtable: The Incredible Rescue by Captain Hass Lipinski (c.2582)]

While nightmarish, these events are very few and far between, there is roughly a case once every five years or so, and if such an event were to happen, military regulations dictate that all crewmembers report for immediate cryostasis and for the AI to drop an emergency Slipspace beacon upon reverting to normal space. Civilian transports on the other hand will not be so lucky if such an event were to occur. There are very few cryotubes on a commercial flight and these are usually reserved for passengers with an extreme medical issue. Fortunately, there has been no recorded civilian Slipspace fatalities with the exception of the Van Braun in 2549 in which a colony ship's stern was transported to Slipspace due to improper mounting. 700 civilians supposedly perished in the accident which put forward new maintenance techniques for all SF engines.


DOWNFALLS OF SLIPSPACE

Apart from the fact that the mere entrance into Slipstream Space is dangerous presents one of its downfalls. Other harmful aspects of this otherwise great mode of transportation is its predictability, or rather, its unpredictability. Slipstream engines, especially those of Human design, are crude in their methods. While adapted Forerunner engines in use with the Covenant Remnant are more precise and graceful in their jumps, there are still some mathematical random to factor in. When looking at Human slipspace drives, it is entirely possible that a ship will end up approximately from 10,000-100,000 kilometers from their intended extraction point. Though the risk is very, very, very unlikely, it is plausible that a ship could theoretically exit Slipspace inside of a planet or star. This has never happened yet, but researches still claim that it is an ever-present danger.

One of the biggest complaints about Slipstream is the vast amounts of energy consumption that the drives require. Tunnelling from normal to Slipstream is no small task, requiring an outstanding amount of energy, equivalent to ten thousand times the power of the Hiroshima Atomic Blast in 1945.

[Quite obviously, this reference will change depending on which species is reading this guide]

The Thermoelectric Conversion Law dictates the general amount of energy required to tunnel into Slipspace must be proportional to the mass of the ship, otherwise, it will not be able to make the trip.

Ms=c*Ms/MA (7.43c(A*A/s))  AND (M*Sc=Vs/Ms)∇Ms*Vc=cA   

(7.43, for future references, is Staten's Number; one of the most important real numbers used in Slipstream analysis.)

From a tactical military viewpoint, Slipstream can present a slight game-breaker in the form of Cherenkov radiation. A good example of this is when a nuclear missile is launched from a ship that transitions into Slipspace. During transit, nobody would notice this, although upon transition into normal space, the missile will emit Cherenkov radiation thanks to its nuclear payload. Emissions are blue-shifted which can be easily read by any orbital sensor. This is the reason ships can detect each other so easily after a transition, as visual contact in space is virtually useless unless the ship is inside the hundred kilometer range.

SLIPSPACE TODAY

As of the time it is 3238 CE, according to the Gregorian calendar. The Second Age of Colonization had begun in 2553 when Humanity began to rebuild after the war with the Covenant. Thanks to newly acquired Forerunner technology, Humans began to transform their ravaged worlds back into liveable ones. In addition to terraformation, Humanity discovered greater methods of Slipspace travel thanks to the Forerunners. The United Nations Charter of Alliance of 2571 had the Sangheili officially share technology as a form of apology for the war; reparations for their misled jihad.

Multiple Slipspace engines exist today thanks to this technology. Some major names are the General Dynamics Translight Engine, the Ford-Bausch FTL Transitioner, The Mathlock-Ithalanci (MIT) FTL Engine, and the Queens Aerodynamics Translight Manifold. These are only a few of the popular names, although many agree that the best is still the Shaw-Fujikawa because of its simplicity. Simply point and shoot. Various different brand names offer different velocities at the cost of recharge times or heat expenditure, which may or may not sway certain users.

In general, FTL engines have increased in velocity thanks to the Charter of Alliance. Military vessels generally have higher velocities than civilian ships. The "speed limit" for military vessels is pegged at around 600ly/day. In 2552, this number was 2.1ly/day. Civilian ships are around 100ly/day; significantly slower than a military vessel under the justification that exiting at too high a velocity might cause a collision with another craft upon exiting the aperture. Sangheili ships can go faster, with their ships approaching velocities of around 912.6ly/day. Forerunner ships are hypothesized to go even faster.
   
For a price, Civilian yachts can be fitted with a small Slispace drive. The only model small enough to accommodate these drives is the Tessler Mk.16 Slipspace Insertion Drive, which eeks out a passable 25 ly/day cruising velocity. Anyone who wishes to travel FTL otherwise must do so on public transit.

IMPORTANT SLIPSPACE DATES:  

500,000+ BCE: Precursor society discovers Slipspace. Believed to be even more extensive than Forerunners
100,000+ BCE: Forerunners Use Slipspace extensively.
2140 BCE: Slipspace 'discovered' by the San 'Shyuum, later the Covenant proper.
2013 BCE: Shi'Kri'Lash 'discover' Slipspace
2290: Creation of the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.
2310: The Odyssey, the first FTL capable colony ship leaves Earth for Proxima Centauri.
2390: 800 worlds colonized (including dwarf planets, non-habitable worlds, and habitable planets).
2553: UNSC Charter of Alliance signed; ships fitted with new technology.
2553: Second Age of Colonization Begins.
2594: Lyshad discover Slipspace Flight
2600: Garim discover Slipspace Flight
2680: Independent Contractors begin to create Slipspace Engines.
2704: Alydes achieve Slipspace Flight
2902: Ford-Bausch engine contends for the No.1 spot of most common used Slipspace Engine
2917: Gallvente Race acquire Slipspace drives
3234: Discovery of Chaos Emeralds, attributed to Cross-Universal travel; highly experimental, highly dangerous.
3234: Mobians acquire Slipspace drives
3235: Confirmed use of Chaos Emeralds by enemy military forces to cross universal barriers.
3238: Second longest recorded absence of a military vessel in cross-dimensional travel. Said ship was lost with nearly all hands, but a second vessel returned crewed by UNSC Navy personnel.  

[For a more detailed listing of important dates, consult the UNSC Galactic Records Archive at gttp://gww.unscgalacticarchive.gov.org/history/2000-3238/.pdf/html]