Bruce Thompson of NASA Quest once told Gizmodo: “Imagine traveling to Mars, accelerating all the way at 3 gravities. That's a tantalizing prospect, but again-humans aren’t really designed to handle all that. If you’re trying to emulate a 1 g environment again, then you basically have to plan for a year’s worth of deceleration en route to your destination.Īnd the truth is, if you’re able to accelerate fast enough to reach near light speed in about a year, then it’s reasonable to think you could probably get to that speed more quickly by accepting even higher g-forces. This could take months or even years-it sort of depends on what is tolerable to the travelers inside the spacecraft. On the flip side, you have to be prepared to decelerate properly as you get closer to your destination. (Remember, if you’re a passenger inside the spacecraft, time will pass differently, as discussed in a previous issue of The Airlock.) While ramping up to near light speed, you’d theoretically be able to to eat your breakfast of champions as you would on Earth. From Earth’s frame of reference, if you’re accelerating at a constant rate of 1 g, then you’d reach near the speed of light in about a year, having covered about 0.5 light-years in distance. Perhaps some of Han's "special modifications" need a tune-up.If you’re accelerating at a fast enough rate to produce a constant 1 g, then sure, you’ll be able to create artificial, Earth-like gravity. In The Empire Strikes Back, the Falcon's jump to hyperspace throws Artoo across the deck and into the open engine pit. Of course, the force that makes us stumble back as the subway car accelerates doesn't seem completely conquered on the Falcon. Just eliminating it for a fraction of a second could allow a rapid, effortless acceleration, after which point inertia could return and the Falcon could cruise at a constant, high velocity. Perhaps they have learned to manipulate inertia. Since Star Wars ships are constantly undergoing rapid accelerations and decelerations, they must have found some way to solve this problem.
Even at 9 g's, it would take him nineteen days to reach half the speed of light, though he'd be dead long before the ship reached that speed. For Han to take off from Mos Eisley and accelerate at 3 g's to half the speed of light would take him two and a half months-hardly the makings of an exciting movie. For the sake of argument, though, let's try to tough it out at 3 g's for a little longer. We can withstand 5 g's for only two minutes, 3 g's for only an hour. If we need to accelerate for extended periods, the level we can withstand is even lower.
We're forced to limit the acceleration of planes and spacecraft to a level humans can survive. The Air Force's F-16 can produce more g's than the human body can survive. If the acceleration doesn't decrease, you will pass out and finally die. Your vision narrows to a tunnel, then goes black. When undergoing an acceleration of 9 g's, your body feels nine times heavier than usual, blood rushes to the feet, and the heart can't pump hard enough to bring this heavier blood to the brain. Normal humans can withstand no more than 9 g's, and even that for only a few seconds. We experience higher or lower g forces when we are rapidly changing speeds or directions. Just as gravity pushes you down against the Earth, inertia pushes you back against your seat. The gravitational force on an object is equivalent to the inertial force on an object undergoing a comparable acceleration.
The reason we measure acceleration in terms of gravity is because the two have the same effect. The speed of light is so fast, that to accelerate to it safely would take months! We measure acceleration in g's, with one g equal to the acceleration caused by Earth's gravity-the acceleration of falling objects on Earth. But accelerating from zero to 186,000 miles per second in five seconds will push Han back so forcefully that he'll become a splat on that fine vinyl upholstery. Inertia will push him slightly back in his seat. Let BMW try to beat that acceleration! It's no problem for Han to accelerate the Falcon from zero to 60 miles per hour in five seconds. The Falcon might be traveling along at 50 miles per hour, and then suddenly it's traveling at 186,000 miles per second. Han Solo talks about making the "jump to light speed." If the Millenium Fal con is somehow jumping to light speed, it implies a nearly instantaneous acceleration. Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from the 1999 book The Science of Star Wars by Jeanne Cavelos.
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