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A hyperdrive is a very important system for space travel, reducing
travel times by days. Lower-class ships generally have cheap,
short-range hyperdrives which will only operate for up to an hour
before having to cool down. Higher-class ships, such as capital
ships and travel liners, often have much more advanced hyperdrives
which can operate indefinitely. Hyperdrives come in many shapes, sizes, classes, and brand names. However, most operate by the same basic principle: rip open a hole in the universe, enter an alternate reality where faster-than-light travel is possible, travel faster than light, and exit. The ramifications of this can be horrific, and planetary laws generally state not to use a hyperdrive inside an atmosphere, as they generate large electromagnetic pulses and explosive shockwaves. Of course, in space, shockwaves do not occur, but electromagnetic pulses do. This is why it is also important to keep a safe distance between yourself and a ship which is activating its hyperdrive. Hyperdrives which follow this principle must be kept in proper working order, as they generate a protective field to keep the incredible speeds from tearing the ship apart instantaneously. This is largely the reason for a hyperdrive's enormous power consumption and high heat buildup. The process of ripping a hole in the universe is very stressful on the hyperdrive, and as a result, entering and exiting hyperspace in a very short time could cause the hyperdrive to fail completely and be rendered unusable. The same goes for exiting and reentering. A hyperspace exit point is generally only accurate up to a few hundred miles. For this reason, it is not suggested to attempt to exit hyperspace inside an atmosphere. To span distances between star systems in any reasonable amount of time, commonly around ten hours for a nearby system, a vessel must travel around 816 million miles per second. Because the distance between planets in one star system is such a small fraction of this, it would be impossible for a hyperdrive to exit hyperspace that quickly. While hyperdrives can be throttled down to a point, they cannot be throttled down far enough to make intrastellar interplanetary travel feasible. Therefore, travel inside a system is restricted to sublight engines. Some instability can occur in a hyperspace route, and if a large enough object happens to exit hyperspace just as another ship passes that point, there is a large risk that the passerby may be ripped out of hyperspace as well. However, two hyperspace-faring objects in such close proximity is so unlikely it might as well be said to be impossible. It is up for scientific speculation whether gazing upon hyperspace truly causes insanity or death, but all space-faring vessels are now equipped with pro-sanity shields that automatically shut over any windows when entering hyperspace. |