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{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}
{{Status|Canon}}
[[File:HaloReach - Uppercut Slipspace Drive.jpg|thumb|250px|A human-made Slipspace drive.]]
{{Center|This article is about the in-universe slipstream space transportation device. For the graphics engine, see [[Slipspace Engine]].}}
A '''Slipspace drive''' is a device designed to make transitions in and out of an alternate plane known as [[slipstream space]], allowing faster-than-light travel.
{{Quote|They have opened a path to the stars for all of us.|Dedication to Tobias Fleming Shaw, ScD, QeD, FRS (January 30, 2220–November 10, 2317), and Wallace Fujikawa ScD, QEnD (April 20, 2215–February 18, 2318)<ref name="Orbital">'''[[Halo 3]]''', multiplayer level ''[[Orbital (level)|Orbital]]''</ref>}}
A '''slipspace drive''' is a spacecraft propulsion system capable of making transitions to and from [[slipstream space]] and by extension allowing faster-than-light interstellar travel. The device functions by creating ruptures between normal space and slipspace. The nonstandard physics of slipspace allow it to be used as a shortcut realm, facilitating interstellar travel between distant regions in reasonable time.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 141''</ref>


==Overview==
== Human ==
A slipspace drive functions by creating ruptures between normal space and slipspace.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 141''</ref> The nonstandard physics of slipspace allow it to be used as a shortcut realm, facilitating interstellar travel between distant regions in reasonable time.
[[File:SFTE.png|thumb|250px|A Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.]]
{{Main|Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine}}
Humans created the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]]. The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine functions by creating ruptures, referred to in some sources as wormholes, between normal space and an alternate plane known as slipspace (also known as slipstream space and Shaw-Fujikawa space).<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 141''</ref> The engine creates ruptures by using high-power cyclic particle accelerators to generate microscopic black holes. Because of their low mass, [[Hawking radiation]] gives them a lifetime of around a nanosecond (or potentially a little longer than a whole second)<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,483477,00.html?=done '''FoxNews''': ''Scientists Not So Sure 'Doomsday Machine' Won't Destroy World'']</ref> before they evaporate into useless thermal energy. In that nanosecond, the engine manipulates them into forming a coherent rupture between normal space and the slipstream.<ref name="Ghost">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 53''</ref> A major component of the drive is a set of "slipspace capacitors" which have to be charged before a jump.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 192'' (2003 edition)</ref><ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 295, 376''</ref>


A slipspace drive does not actually "accelerate" a spacecraft through slipstream space; this is performed by the ship's conventional reaction thrusters. Thus, ships with more powerful conventional engines are also faster within the slipstream.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''Page 23''</ref> As [[astrogation]], the coordination of slipspace jumps, cannot be successfully done by a human, the calculations involved in a jump are done by a [[navigation computer]] or an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]].<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 96''</ref>
The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine generates a quantum field, which prevents the ship and its occupants from being directly exposed to the eleven-dimensional space-time of slipspace, instead translating the ship's presence to the foreign physics of the Slipstream and "squeezing" it through the higher dimensions.<ref name="quantumfield">'''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''', ''December 25, 2534''</ref> Maintaining the quantum field requires an enormous amount of constant calculations, with larger vessels requiring significantly more such calculations than smaller ones. For example,  
the slipspace translations for a {{class|Phoenix|colony ship}} require 4.3 quadrillion calculations of the quantum field per second.<ref>'''Halo Wars: Genesis'''</ref>


==Human==
A human slipspace drive does not actually "accelerate" a spacecraft through slipstream space; this is performed by the ship's conventional [[Fusion drive|reaction thrusters]]. Thus, ships with more powerful conventional engines are also faster within the slipstream.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 23''</ref> When active, a Shaw-Fujikawa engine emits alpha (helium nuclei) and beta particles (fast electrons).<ref name="Ghosts">'''Halo: Ghost of Onyx''', ''pages 145-146''</ref> The coordination and plotting of slipspace jumps, referred to as [[astrogation]], requires an enormous amount of calculations which require a [[navigation computer]] or an [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] to successfully conduct.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 96''</ref> However, the basic jump parameters can be calculated by a human.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''"The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole"'', ''page 426''</ref>
{{Main|Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine}}
 
Developed in [[2291]] by the physicists [[Tobias Fleming Shaw]] and [[Wallace Fujikawa]], the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine generates ruptures by using high-power cyclic particle accelerators to generate microscopic black holes. The technology is still limited, however, and jumps typically take months or over half a year.
The elements [[Wikipedia:Selenium|Selenium]] and [[Wikipedia:Technetium|Technetium]] are used to manufacture Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engines.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''"The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole"'', ''page 436''</ref> Despite being considered inferior to Covenant slipspace drives, their simplistic and straightforward technical architecture and substantial room for improvements are considered useful properties to both the UNSC and [[Kig-Yar]] pirate clans.<ref>''Halo: Warfleet'', p. 10</ref>
{{clear}}
 
== Covenant ==
[[File:Covenant Slipspace Drive.jpg|thumb|150px|An ''Ophon''-pattern Borer.]]
{{Main|Borer}}
The [[Covenant]] and its [[Covenant remnants|remnants]] created [[Borer]]s. Being more technologically advanced than humanity, the [[Covenant]] have numerous advantages in slipspace propulsion systems. Whilst the human Shaw-Fujikawa engine is said to “punch” a hole between realms using brute force, Covenant engines instead take a small rupture and delicately enlarge it with surgical precision. This allows the latter to execute far more accurate slips.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 86''</ref> Covenant slipspace drives are often referred to as "jump drives".<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 136''</ref> In addition to their more powerful [[Repulsor engine|thruster engines]], it has been theorized by the UNSC that Covenant drives generate several "microjumps" within a single slipspace transition to measure the dilation involved in a jump, allowing them to reach their destinations faster.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike (2010)''', ''[[Tug o' War]]''</ref>
 
Covenant drives are generally more flexible and powerful than those of humans. They have thrice been seen to execute in-atmosphere slipspace transitions<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]'''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo 2]]''', level ''[[Delta Halo]]''</ref> (although the first time the drive in question was controlled by [[Cortana|a human AI]]). In addition, Covenant drives can execute successful slips even if underpowered.
 
Covenant slipspace drives can also be refitted to human ships, as seen during [[OPERATION: FIRST STRIKE]], where the UNSC fitted ''[[Ascendant Justice]]''{{'}}s slipspace drive to the {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}} to escape ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'' and reach Earth faster.
{{clear}}
== Forerunner ==
[[File:Forerunner Slipspace Drive.jpg|thumb|150px|A Forerunner Crystal resonance chamber.]]
Forerunner understanding of the mechanics of slipspace far exceeded that of the UNSC or the Covenant. They used [[Slipspace flake|small crystals]] embedded in their slipspace drives to manipulate slipspace,<ref>'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 124''</ref> allowing smoother transitions.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 104-105''</ref> They had a superior grasp of [[reconciliation]], the ability to correct or otherwise manipulate the causal effects of slipspace travel.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 240''</ref> This was useful when carrying out large-scale coordinated military campaigns or simply moving across enormous distances.
 
Forerunner ships are also extremely fast, as seen when the ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'' was able to travel from the vicinity [[Installation 03]] to [[Earth]] in a matter of minutes. Forerunner ships rely on their energy shields to keep them safe during the journey, unlike UNSC ships, which rely on just their armor.<ref>'''[[Halo 4]]''', level ''[[Midnight]]''</ref>
{{clear}}
 
==Trivia==
*In real-world physics, black holes have been identified as a possible vector for constructing traversable wormholes, specifically through the use of the [[Wikipedia:Kerr metric|Kerr metric]].


==Covenant==
==Gallery==
[[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] slipspace drives, often referred to as "jump drives",<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 136''</ref> are capable of velocities far greater than human drives. In addition to their more powerful [[Repulsor engine|thruster engines]], it has been theorized by the UNSC that Covenant drives generate several "microjumps" within a single slipspace transition to measure the dilation involved in a jump, allowing them to reach their destinations faster.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike (2010)''', ''[[Tug o' War]]''</ref> Instead of simply tearing a hole into Slipspace, Covenant slipspace drives cut a very fine hole in the fabric of space-time and slip into Slipspace with precision. It exits with the same pinpoint accuracy, takes less time during travel, and is able to plot a course with error not exceeding an atom.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 86''</ref>
<gallery>
File:HWF SlipspaceDrivesConcept.jpg|Early concepts for the slipspace drives featured in ''[[Halo: Warfleet]]''.
File:Human Slipspace Drive.jpg|A CODEN Series IV Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.
File:H4-SpOps-Invasion ForerunnerEngine.png|The Mark X Macedon/Z-PROTOTYPE #78720HDS drive aboard [[UNSC Infinity|UNSC ''Infinity'']]
</gallery>


==Forerunner==
==List of appearances==
Forerunner understanding of the mechanics of slipspace far exceeded that of the UNSC or the Covenant. While little is know of the inner workings of Forerunner drives, they used "slipspace flakes" chipped from the [[Slipspace core]], a crystal held in a location only known to the [[Master Builder]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Cryptum]]''', ''page 124''</ref>
{{Col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved]]''
*''[[Halo: The Flood]]''
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]''
*''[[I love Bees]]''
*''[[Halo 2]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''
*''[[Halo 3]]''
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''
*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]''
*''[[Halo Wars]]''
*''[[Halo Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]''
**''[[Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian]]''
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
**''[[Data pads]]'' {{Mo}}
{{Col-2}}
*''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''
*''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''
*''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadow of Intent]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Tales from Slipspace]]''
**''[[Something Has Happened]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{C|Holographic projection only}}
*''[[Halo: Envoy]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Meridian Divide]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]'' {{Mo}}
{{col-2}}
{{col-end}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
<references/>
{{Ref/Sources|2}}
 
[[Category:Propulsion]]
[[Category:Propulsion]]
[[Category:Slipspace]]

Latest revision as of 17:41, October 27, 2024

This article is about the in-universe slipstream space transportation device. For the graphics engine, see Slipspace Engine.

"They have opened a path to the stars for all of us."
— Dedication to Tobias Fleming Shaw, ScD, QeD, FRS (January 30, 2220–November 10, 2317), and Wallace Fujikawa ScD, QEnD (April 20, 2215–February 18, 2318)[1]

A slipspace drive is a spacecraft propulsion system capable of making transitions to and from slipstream space and by extension allowing faster-than-light interstellar travel. The device functions by creating ruptures between normal space and slipspace. The nonstandard physics of slipspace allow it to be used as a shortcut realm, facilitating interstellar travel between distant regions in reasonable time.[2]

Human[edit]

A Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.
Main article: Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine

Humans created the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine functions by creating ruptures, referred to in some sources as wormholes, between normal space and an alternate plane known as slipspace (also known as slipstream space and Shaw-Fujikawa space).[3] The engine creates ruptures by using high-power cyclic particle accelerators to generate microscopic black holes. Because of their low mass, Hawking radiation gives them a lifetime of around a nanosecond (or potentially a little longer than a whole second)[4] before they evaporate into useless thermal energy. In that nanosecond, the engine manipulates them into forming a coherent rupture between normal space and the slipstream.[5] A major component of the drive is a set of "slipspace capacitors" which have to be charged before a jump.[6][7]

The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine generates a quantum field, which prevents the ship and its occupants from being directly exposed to the eleven-dimensional space-time of slipspace, instead translating the ship's presence to the foreign physics of the Slipstream and "squeezing" it through the higher dimensions.[8] Maintaining the quantum field requires an enormous amount of constant calculations, with larger vessels requiring significantly more such calculations than smaller ones. For example, the slipspace translations for a Phoenix-class colony ship require 4.3 quadrillion calculations of the quantum field per second.[9]

A human slipspace drive does not actually "accelerate" a spacecraft through slipstream space; this is performed by the ship's conventional reaction thrusters. Thus, ships with more powerful conventional engines are also faster within the slipstream.[10] When active, a Shaw-Fujikawa engine emits alpha (helium nuclei) and beta particles (fast electrons).[11] The coordination and plotting of slipspace jumps, referred to as astrogation, requires an enormous amount of calculations which require a navigation computer or an AI to successfully conduct.[12] However, the basic jump parameters can be calculated by a human.[13]

The elements Selenium and Technetium are used to manufacture Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engines.[14] Despite being considered inferior to Covenant slipspace drives, their simplistic and straightforward technical architecture and substantial room for improvements are considered useful properties to both the UNSC and Kig-Yar pirate clans.[15]

Covenant[edit]

An Ophon-pattern Borer.
Main article: Borer

The Covenant and its remnants created Borers. Being more technologically advanced than humanity, the Covenant have numerous advantages in slipspace propulsion systems. Whilst the human Shaw-Fujikawa engine is said to “punch” a hole between realms using brute force, Covenant engines instead take a small rupture and delicately enlarge it with surgical precision. This allows the latter to execute far more accurate slips.[16] Covenant slipspace drives are often referred to as "jump drives".[17] In addition to their more powerful thruster engines, it has been theorized by the UNSC that Covenant drives generate several "microjumps" within a single slipspace transition to measure the dilation involved in a jump, allowing them to reach their destinations faster.[18]

Covenant drives are generally more flexible and powerful than those of humans. They have thrice been seen to execute in-atmosphere slipspace transitions[19][20] (although the first time the drive in question was controlled by a human AI). In addition, Covenant drives can execute successful slips even if underpowered.

Covenant slipspace drives can also be refitted to human ships, as seen during OPERATION: FIRST STRIKE, where the UNSC fitted Ascendant Justice's slipspace drive to the UNSC Gettysburg to escape Unyielding Hierophant and reach Earth faster.

Forerunner[edit]

A Forerunner Crystal resonance chamber.

Forerunner understanding of the mechanics of slipspace far exceeded that of the UNSC or the Covenant. They used small crystals embedded in their slipspace drives to manipulate slipspace,[21] allowing smoother transitions.[22] They had a superior grasp of reconciliation, the ability to correct or otherwise manipulate the causal effects of slipspace travel.[23] This was useful when carrying out large-scale coordinated military campaigns or simply moving across enormous distances.

Forerunner ships are also extremely fast, as seen when the Mantle's Approach was able to travel from the vicinity Installation 03 to Earth in a matter of minutes. Forerunner ships rely on their energy shields to keep them safe during the journey, unlike UNSC ships, which rely on just their armor.[24]

Trivia[edit]

  • In real-world physics, black holes have been identified as a possible vector for constructing traversable wormholes, specifically through the use of the Kerr metric.

Gallery[edit]

  • Early concepts for the slipspace drives featured in Halo: Warfleet.

    Early concepts for the slipspace drives featured in Halo: Warfleet.

  • A CODEN Series IV Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.

    A CODEN Series IV Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine.

  • The Mark X Macedon/Z-PROTOTYPE #78720HDS drive aboard UNSC Infinity

    The Mark X Macedon/Z-PROTOTYPE #78720HDS drive aboard UNSC Infinity

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ Halo 3, multiplayer level Orbital
  2. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 141
  3. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 141
  4. ^ FoxNews: Scientists Not So Sure 'Doomsday Machine' Won't Destroy World
  5. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 53
  6. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 192 (2003 edition)
  7. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, pages 295, 376
  8. ^ Dr. Halsey's personal journal, December 25, 2534
  9. ^ Halo Wars: Genesis
  10. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, page 23
  11. ^ Halo: Ghost of Onyx, pages 145-146
  12. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, page 96
  13. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", page 426
  14. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", page 436
  15. ^ Halo: Warfleet, p. 10
  16. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 86
  17. ^ Halo: Contact Harvest, page 136
  18. ^ Halo: First Strike (2010), Tug o' War
  19. ^ Halo: First Strike
  20. ^ Halo 2, level Delta Halo
  21. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 124
  22. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 104-105
  23. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 240
  24. ^ Halo 4, level Midnight
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