59
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - 6
I think Hitchhikers may take the cake for most FTL drives for ship to ship transport. Also the fastest FTL drive in fiction (since the 'Improbability Drive' sends ...
- 681
48
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Sword of the Stars - 5
The PC game Sword of the Stars has the most diverse collection of FTL technologies I have ever encountered.
Of the 6 playable races, 5 have completely unique FTL capabilities.
...
- 613
43
votes
Accepted
Why is it called 'Lightspeed' if the ships aren't traveling at the speed of light?
In the Star Wars universe, the term 'lightspeed' doesn't literally mean "traveling at the speed of light" (something that's actually scientifically impossible), it's simply shorthand for ...
- 607k
35
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Perry Rhodan-verse - 33
The long-running German pulp Sci-Fi series “Perry Rhodan” has created an impressive roster of FTL drive technologies over the decades.
Disclaimer: The following list of drives (...
- 551
28
votes
Why do calculations need to be made before jumping into hyperspace?
Actually, randomly jumping to hyperspace is done in an emergency without any calculations.
For example, in the Thrawn Trilogy, we find that Karrde's ship did that when running away - which is how ...
- 336k
28
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Red Dwarf - 18(ish)
I'm going to put in a word for Red Dwarf with at least 18 distinct forms of FTL seen within the TV and book canons:
Conventional Ramscoop Drives (the kind used by the Red Dwarf) ...
- 607k
24
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Kefahuchi Tract - ∞
Behind all this bad behaviour was an insecurity magnificent in scope, metaphysical in nature. Space was big, and the boys from Earth were awed despite themselves by the things ...
- 257
23
votes
Sublight Starship "passed" by FTL
I'm a huge fan of SF from the golden age of SF, so this could be a fairly old book. It was a story about a "generation" starship or sublight starship.
It's "Golden Age" all right (Astounding Science ...
- 143k
21
votes
Why do calculations need to be made before jumping into hyperspace?
From an outside view, this is simply a dated plot-device.
In Star Trek the next generation, for instance, the ship computer could spend hours searching for and retrieving information. This allowed ...
- 8,714
20
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Uplift Universe - At least 8
David Brin's Uplift Universe probably has the most different forms of FTL in any single universe that I know of. I can't find a list with a quick search, but I do have ...
- 1,794
20
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Doctor Who - 20+
I'm guessing Doctor Who is a strong contender, though it would probably take a month or more to watch/read all Doctor Who sources for every type, and figure out which are the same ...
- 4,176
20
votes
Accepted
Novel about a teenage female protagonist on a FTL spaceflight in a deterministic universe
I can't find a cover image that really matches your description, but the story of a teenager who goes on a trip that turns into a voyage past the end of the universe seems to match The Starlight ...
- 79k
19
votes
Short story about the maiden voyage of an FTL capable ship
This is Randall Garrett's "Time Fuze", first published in IF, March 1954.
The ultradrive had just one slight drawback: it set up a shock wave that made suns explode. Which made the problem ...
- 8,080
18
votes
Accepted
Short story about scientists that stumble across an FTL drive
That sounds very much like a story "Persistence" by Joe Martino in the May 1969 Analog. Commander William Marshall is studying a captured Arcani (the aliens) ship. His bosses are convinced that they ...
- 33.7k
16
votes
Accepted
What exactly are Sublight Engines?
Short Answer
A Sublight Engine or Sublight Drive is the engine used to propel a starship through space at speeds below the speed of light, hence the term.
Slightly longer answer
The name is, as you ...
- 3,998
15
votes
Story ID: FTL communication
This is Beep, by James Blish, a short story that was later expanded into a novel called The Quincunx of Time.
A summary provided by an external reviewer gives the basic outline:
‘Beep’ is driven ...
- 12.2k
15
votes
Which science fiction universe holds the title of furthest distance travelled in one voyage?
Probably Tau Zero by Poul Anderson.
According to Wikipedia, eventually they end up going billions of light-years in "moments" of their proper time.
They basically keep on accelerating, and fly ...
- 987
15
votes
Accepted
Most modern sci-fi with FTL that really is FTL
In Skylark of Space by E.E. “Doc” Smith, the speed of light is no limit at all. Einstein was simply wrong! The ships in the Skylark series use simple acceleration, and end up going very, very fast, ...
- 2,125
15
votes
60s (or earlier) SF short story with FTL Travel using electron psychology aka addiclenendar technology
This is the story "Far Centarus" by A.E. van Vogt as suggested by the comment.
If you check out page 81 of the story in the January 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, you'll find the term "...
- 79k
14
votes
Accepted
What are the different forms of FTL travel and how do they interact?
There's an additional dimension that's neither space nor time. Under normal circumstances, we do not move in either direction along it. A hyperdrive allows for movement along that dimension.
This ...
- 1,354
13
votes
Why do calculations need to be made before jumping into hyperspace?
While space is essentially empty, empty is relative.
Intergalactic space: the space between galaxies is the closest thing you will get to empty space. This space is outside of most gravity wells and ...
- 210k
13
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
Warhammer 40k - 7
The Imperium of Man uses Warp Travel, which essentially means jumping through hell to get somewhere. They require the services of a Navigator, a member of a mutated sub-species of ...
- 3,991
12
votes
In which Science Fiction (probably Star Wars) story is FTL used to jump to other side of a planet?
I think you're referring to the Stargate: SG1 episode Failsafe, when they use hyperspace to jump their ship (and the asteroid they're standing on) directly through the Earth.
Also happens in Stargate ...
- 121
12
votes
Accepted
Is the Star Trek warp drive canonically the Alcubierre drive?
Not canonically.
The Star Trek warp drive has some features in common with the Alcubierre drive, a theoretical faster-than-light drive proposed by physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994. There is no ...
- 109k
12
votes
How do they get to Andromeda so fast?
In the trilogy it's said that man kind can travel 50 times the speed of light.
Well... no. I'm not sure where you got that number from, but it disagrees with my sources.
The ME3 Codex gives top ...
- 9,293
12
votes
Accepted
Looking for the title of a sci-fi book on FTL network
The Dragon Never Sleeps, by Glen Cook. Here's a scan of what I believe was the original cover art from the first paperback edition.
It was first published in 1988, which fits your belief that you ...
- 24.4k
11
votes
Which Sci-Fi work introduced the idea of "FTL Travel"?
Just before the 1905 cutoff date, in 1904, there was the novel Around a Distant Star by Jean Delaire. Quoting from Everett F. Bleiler's review in Science-Fiction: The Early Years:
On returning from ...
- 143k
11
votes
Which Sci-fi universe uses the most forms of FTL (Faster Than Light)?
The Big Night - 2
To get the ball rolling, here's an example of a fictional universe with two different modes of FTL travel.
In Henry Kuttner's novelette "The Big Night", originally published (as by ...
- 143k
11
votes
Which science fiction universe holds the title of furthest distance travelled in one voyage?
In Diaspora by Greg Egan, the protagonists discover that our universe is effectively contained in a sub-atomic particle in another higher universe (it’s actually more complicated than that), which is ...
- 60k
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