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They opened a path to the stars for all of us. The Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine (STFE, or slipspace drive) is a human spacecraft propulsion system capable of making transitions to and from slipstream space and by extension allowing faster-than-light interstellar travel. The Covenant analogue functions on similar principles, but is referred to exclusively as a slipspace drive.
History
The engine was developed by a group of engineers and theoretical physicists led by Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa in 2291. From that point onward, the drive became one of the most important technological innovations of humanity. The drive is not without limitations, however, although these may be partially because of slipstream physics rather than engineering imperfections. Short slips may take several months, whilst longer slips may take over half a year.
By 2552, most human spacecraft were equipped with a slipspace engine, including most, if not all of the UNSC Navy’s warships.
Functionality
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. The nonstandard physics of slipspace allow it to be used as a shortcut realm, facilitating interstellar travel between distant regions in reasonable time.
The engine makes 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 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.
It should be noted that in real-world physics, black holes have been identified as a possible vector for constructing traversable wormholes, specifically by replacing the singularity with a path to a white hole in another universe.
It is unknown whether a slipspace drive has a role in accelerating a spacecraft through slipstream space, or whether conventional reaction thrusters are used. It is known that an engine remained active for the entire period that a spacecraft is in the slipstream, although its purpose during this period is known. When active, a Shaw-Fujikawa engine emits alpha (helium nuclei) and beta (fast electrons) particles.
Human slipspace drives were considered black boxes which were very difficult to repair or maintain after they went hot for the first time. Spartan-051 considered slipspace drives dangerous, noting the aforementioned radiation and that spacetime was said to distort around an active device. Dr. Halsey also observed that in the past, several technicians had simply vanished whilst manually adjusting a drive. Given their advanced technology, it is unknown whether the Covenant had a similar view.
Atypical Uses
There have been several occasions where a Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine has been used for purposes other than those intended. • In 2531, the Spirit of Fire cannibalised its slipspace engine for use as an improvised bomb, in order to induce supernova in the miniature star at the heart of an unnamed shield world. • In the same year, the Office of Naval Intelligence used a partially deconstructed drive to cause Spartan-051’s armour to malfunction and send him flying into space so he could be secretly rescued and recruited for the Spartan-III project. • Several times, the UNSC has attempted to execute in-atmosphere slipspace transitions. They were always unsuccessful, leading to the conversion of the trial spacecraft into “atomised bits”.
Covenant Advantages
Being more scientifically and technologically advanced than humanity (having stolen most of it notwithstanding), the Covenant have numerous advantages in slipspace propulsion systems. Whilst the 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. This allows the latter to execute far more accurate slips.
Covenant drives are generally more flexible than those of humans. They have twice been seen to execute in-atmosphere slipspace transitions (although the first time the drive in question was controlled by a human AI). In addition, they can execute successful slips even if underpowered.
Terminology
The original term for making a transition between normal space and the slipstream was “jump”, which was later retconned to “slip”. Halo Wars introduces alternate terminology for the slipspace drive. It is referred to as an FTL drive and FTL reactor several times, and the process of initialising it for a slip was referred to as “spinning up”.
The Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine (sometimes abbreviated to SFTE, usually known merely as a "Slipspace Drive") is a Human spacecraft propulsion system capable of faster-than-light travel through Slipspace.
History
The Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive was developed secretly by a group of military researchers, Tobias Fleming Shaw and Wallace Fujikawa in 2291. The engine is capable of Slipspace jumps of over a thousand astronomical units to other Colonies in months. "Short" jumps routinely take up to two months, and "long" jumps can last six months or more. Shaw-Fujikawa engines allowed UNSC ships to leave normal space and plow through a dimensional subdomain colloquially known as "Slipstream space" (Slipspace for short) or "Shaw-Fujikawa Space." The invention of the "Slipspace Drive" has been rated as the most important invention in human history since it allowed Humans to colonize other planets and jump outside the bubble of their Solar System.
Background
Shaw-Fujikawa engines work by making ruptures between normal space and the alternate dimensional plane known as Slipspace, and then forcing the mass of a spacecraft through. They do this by creating quantum black holes with particle accelerators. Hawking Radiation prevents these microscopic black holes from existing for more than a nanosecond, but in that time the drive is able to manipulate them into forming a coherent rupture between normal space and the slipstream[1].
It is unclear whether Shaw-Fujikawa engines have any role in actually propelling spacecraft through the Slipstream, or whether a ship's sublight thrusters are used. It's known that the drives do remain active for the duration that a spacecraft is in Slipspace, but their function here is unknown.
The Shaw-Fujikawa drive of the Humans "punches" its way into Slipspace by using brute force. The Covenant, on the other hand, create small, precise ruptures and then delicately enlarge them. This is the reason that Covenant Slipspace engines are far more accurate than Human drives. Captured Covenant Engineers made the UNSC Gettysburg the fastest ship in the UNSC fleet by upgrading its Slipspace drive to near-Covenant specifications. Covenant engines are also more flexible than their Human-made counterparts; atmospheric Slipspace transitions have twice been seen with them[2], and an underpowered slip was successfully accomplished with a Covenant ship[3].
An active Shaw-Fujikawa drive emits Alpha and Beta particles, necessitating heavy radiation shielding. It is also stated that early models were prone to requiring many manual adjustments (which was a dangerous procedure). One can assume that a greater understanding of Slipstream physics has eliminated this requirement.
Trivia
- The emissions of a damaged Shaw-Fujikawa drive were used by ONI to make the armor of Spartan-051 malfunction and send him flying into unknown space, so that he could be secretly rescued, and then repurposed to train the new Spartan-IIIs.
- Covenant Slipspace Drives are seemingly much more advanced than Human ones, as Cortana performs the first atmospheric transition in Halo: First Strike, and Spartans Fred-104, Linda-058, and William-043 manage an underpowered jump using a captured Covenant destroyer in Ghosts of Onyx, which was said to have been attempted twice by UNSC ships, both times resulting in the ship transitioning "into atomized bits".
- The Spirit of Fire's Slipspace Drive was used as an improvised explosive to destroy The unnamed Shield World's internal sun, resulting in the star going supernova; destroying both the Shield World and its contigent of Forerunner Warships's in order to prevent those ships from falling into Covenant hands.