Slipstream space



Slipstream Space (Slipspace for short), otherwise known as Shaw-Fujikawa Space by the United Nations Space Command, is an alternate dimensional plane consisting of seven interlinked dimensions (over the four of normal space). The seven-dimensional physics of the slipstream makes it attractive as a mechanism for faster-than-light travel. Translight travel using slipspace is known as a "jump", later retconned to "slip".

Background


Slipspace travel has been the UNSC's main way of traveling from planet to planet, and star-system to star-system since its discovery in 2291. Before this technology was discovered by Tobias Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa, mankind was never able to leave their home star system due to the constraints of relativistic theory, preventing faster-than-light travel. Now the UNSC traverses the galaxy in spacecraft to whole new worlds. The Slipspace drive is considered the most important invention in all of human history.

Mechanics
Slipspace is a seven-dimensional plane of existance which coexists with normal space. If a flat sheet of paper represents normal four-dimensional space, and the crumpled sheet represents seven-dimensional slipspace, then there would be far shorter distances (and hence shorter travel times) between points on the crumpled sheet than on the flat sheet. It is this principle that forms the basis of slipspace travel. Spacecraft use slipspace drives to make transitions between normal space and slipspace, and then use the lower dimensional plane as a literal shortcut to their destinations.

Despite the massively reduced distances in slipspace, travel is not "quick" (by science fiction standards). Short journeys will take approximately two months, and long journeys may take six months or more. These long travel times make cryostasis tubes a necessity onboard UNSC spacecraft. The average travel speed in slipspace for UNSC spacecraft is just over two light years per Sol day.

Although basic laws of physics still apply, the multidimensional nature of the slipstream makes it inherently unpredictable and near-impossible to master. For example, the flow of time is not fixed as it is with normal space. A trip from Earth to Reach may take exactly four days to complete at one time, but if repeated with the exact same variables may take up to four and a half days. A variance of up to ten percent in slipspace temporal flow is to be expected.

If multiple objects are travelling together in the slipstream, they will tend to "group together". This may confuse sensing equipment into reading them as a single, larger object. This was a concept exploited by the Covenant in July 2552 order to covertly approach the human colony Sigma Octanus IV.



The Covenant have a very finely tuned version of slipspace propulsion technology, far superior to UNSC Shaw-Fujikawa engines. Instead of simply punching a hole into slipspace, Covenant drives cut a very fine hole in the fabric of space time and literally slip into slipspace with precision (much like a scalpel compared to a butcher knife). It exits with the same pinpoint accuracy, and is able to plot a course with error not exceeding an atom.

Because the superfine quantum filaments the UNSC use to compute paths are disrupted by gravity, Human vessels are incapable of transitioning while in any significant gravitational field. The Covenant's technology, though, is more than capable of computing slipspace paths in gravitational fields, meaning that they are able to transition while in a gravity well. Indeed, while using the captured Ascendant Justice to make a Slipspace jump within Threshold's atmosphere, Cortana remarked that "It was as if she was blind before" After observing this innovation, a Covenant AI managed to leak the data out to the rest of the Covenant in a transmission. During the First Battle of Earth, the Prophet of Regret uses this new found knowledge to transition to slipspace while directly over New Mombasa in Earth's gravity well, destroying the city These events are further proof that the Covenant are imitative rather than innovative.

Slipspace travel is dangerous due to the high level of radiation encountered during the trip, which can be extremely hazardous to the crew. This is negated by the use of Lead Foil in UNSC ships, which absorbs the radiation. Fissile materials also emit radiation (specifically Cherenkov radiation, emitted when particles travel through a medium at a faster rate than light travels in that same medium) upon exiting slipspace; this is not harmful to humans, however it does make emerging from Slipspace very noticeable. It is not known how the Covenant deal with radiation, but it is presumed that either they also utilize lead, or with their improved slipspace technology and energy shields, it does not affect them at all. During the beginning of the Civil War of the Covenant a Flood-controlled In Amber Clad entered slipspace and exited inside the dome of High Charity.

It should be noted that the Forerunner may have been able to achieve instantaneous travel through slipspace, as the portal generated slipstream space that allowed the fleet to travel through to the Ark in an instant.

Velocities
Human slipspace drives are far slower than Covenant versions, only able to carry a ship at a speed of 2.625 lightyears per day, while Covenant drives can reach 9.12 lightyears per day , an almost 350% increase in superiority to UNSC slipspace technology. The capture of a Covenant slipspace drive by the Master Chief and survivors of the Battle of Reach and survivors of the events at Halo may have increased the capabilities of human slipspace technologies.

One example of the differences between speed differences is comparing the Covenant cruiser "Ascendant Justice" with the UNSC Halcyon-class cruiser "The Pillar of Autumn". It took several weeks for the Pillar of Autumn to get from Reach to Installation 04, yet the Ascendant Justice could get from Installation 04 to Reach within 13 hours.

Dangers
Because the slipstream is constantly shifting, and its laws of physics are different to our own, the magnetic coils of slipspace drives drift out of phase when entering and leaving a slipspace field, necessitating constant maintenance. During the 2490's, technicians had to manually repair slipspace drives, exposing themselves to the slipsptream and suffering injury, death or simply disappearing.

In addition, potentially lethal Cherenkov radiation is emitted by fissile materials, including a ship's fusion reactor and nuclear armaments, upon entry and exit of the dimension, requiring all slipspace-capable craft to be fitted with lead shielding as radiation protection. Slipspace drives can only be equipped on large ships, as the stress that the constantly fluctuating slipstream exerts is considerable and can tear a small craft, such as a dropship or star fighter, completely asunder.

Direct exposure to the slipstream is always dangerous. People traveling on a slipspace-capable craft can experience a range of symptoms, from nausea, to a heart attack, to death. These symptoms are reactions by the body to being moved through dimensions it cannot percieve, similar to how Kurt experienced a feeling of intense dizziness upon observing the multi-dimensional Forerunner graphics on Onyx. Even more uncommon, but still known to happen, is the total disappearance of a person while in the slipstream, caused by dimensional eddies. In some cases having a Forerunner object aboard may cause such disruptions.

Entering Slipspace in atomosphere is believed to be very dangerous, most likely to having to literally open a hole in space. To do this in atmostphere would require the Slipspace drive to create a sonic boom to accelerate in the atmosphere. The boom is then followed by a wave of sonic energy that destroys all structures and objects within a large radius. The ship will also bring other objects into slipspace with it. An example of this is when The Prophet Of Regret jumped into Slipspace in New Mombasa destroying most of the city.

Communications
The Forerunners were capable of sending communication transmissions through slipspace. This way, messages and memorandums could travel at great speeds throughout the Forerunner empire. Cortana was able to use this technology to declare codes Bandersnatch and Hydra during The First Battle of Earth and The Battle of Installation 05 in close-knitted timing and symmetry.

The closest technology the UNSC has been able to create like this is the Slipspace COM Launcher. Even then this technology is limited as there were only three in existence before 2552: one on Reach, one on Onyx and one on Earth. As of the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War, both the devices on Reach and Onyx have been destroyed, with the fate of the Earth device unknown.

Similarities
Slipspace can be likened and very familiar to the recent discovery of matterwave transport without transit. In this process the 7 hidden spatial dimensions, 3 known spatial dimensions and the 2 time dimensions, appear to collapse into a singularity to an outside observer. But in reality and fact, this is only an illusion. In this type of field, relativity predominates, for instance the reality is dependent on the radial displacement from the source that generates the field. At small distances, reality is relatively intact. The further away from the field source, the less sense it makes to talk about reality; a cause can occur after effect, time has no linear flow. Nothing has a definite momentum or velocity. Objects can occur at multiple positions simultaneously. When a object enters a field, it produces a burst of neutrinos, antimatter and other types of radiation.

Trivia

 * The "alternate dimension" method of superluminal travel is very popular in many science fiction movies and television shows. In most fiction, the engines which accomplish this are known as "hyperdrives".
 * When a ship encounters a "Slipspace wake", they will be pushed to the speed the ship made. The UNSC Dusk took 2 weeks to get to Installation 05 via the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier's weakening "wake", but came back to Earth within hours by following the Forerunner Dreadnought's wake.
 * Because all communications can take years or decades to travel the light years between colonized star systems, UNSC civilians use Slipstream packets. They use the slipstream to travel and to send communication signals significantly faster than otherwise possible, allowing faster communication between the UNSC colonies.
 * Nicole-458 was sent back in time, because of a slipspace accident.
 * A slipspace explosion caused a UNSC AI to be transported from the year 2552 to the year 2004.

Related Links

 * Slipspace Anomaly
 * Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine