by Joshua Tyler
| Published
If you're a space traveler, you'll need a ship. Right now, the only ships we're able to build are slow, chunky missile-firing ones. Science fiction travels through space much faster.
While some stories are better when things go slowly, Science fiction It's often more fun when things move very quickly. But which sci-fi ship is the fastest?
It depends on what you ask. For example, a fighter craft may be faster than a flagship in normal space, but a hyperspace-capable flagship is an easy winner. So, for the purposes of this list, we measure our ships based on how quickly they can get from point A to point B.
This is the fastest Space ships In science fiction.
8. Lex (lexus)
the Lexus It is a biomechanical spacecraft capable of traveling faster than light. LEXX moves through the universe via a biologically driven propulsion system. This organic engine allows the ship to travel across galaxies and even between universes at speeds that have never been accurately measured, but have been shown to be far higher than most conventional starships on its world.
While they lack the complex navigation systems typical of mechanical spacecraft, their biological design makes up for this with a natural tendency to move through space. Its ability to cross the boundaries between galaxies and dimensions means great progress and perhaps Alien Understanding the spatial physics encoded in their organic systems.
Despite its unparalleled speed, LEXX often requires guidance from its crew to locate destinations, because it lacks the cognitive ability to make strategic decisions. The ship's combination of organic propulsion and intuitive navigation positions LEXX as one of the most extraordinary ships in science fiction, even if it is ugly.
7. Andromeda Rising (Andromeda)
the Andromeda Rising She is a Glorious Heritage-class heavy cruiser built as part of the High Guard fleet in the Commonwealth systems. With the fall of the Commonwealth, Andromeda became the only one of her kind left.
Andromeda's propulsion relies on Slipstream Drive, a technology that allows faster-than-light travel through a network of natural paths called slipstream paths. Unlike traditional FTL systems, a flow navigation system requires an intuitive pilot to plan routes across these unstable paths. Exact calculations are impossible due to the chaotic nature of slipstream physics.
Andromeda's AI must collaborate with human pilots to navigate this complex system effectively and quickly.
6. Planet Express ship (Futurama)
the Planet Express ship It is a modern spacecraft designed by the genius and eccentric Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth.
The ship is operated by A Dark matter The engine, which provides near-infinite fuel efficiency and works by moving the universe around the ship rather than by the ship moving across the universe. This unique propulsion system enables the Planet Express Ship to achieve effectively infinite speed relative to itself, allowing instantaneous or near-instantaneous interstellar travel.
The ship's engine is powered by dark matter, a substance refined from the droppings of the Niblonian species, making it as alien as it is effective.
5. Event horizon (event horizon)
the It happened Horizonfrom the 1997 science fiction horror film of the same name, is an experimental spacecraft designed to test a revolutionary propulsion system known as Gravity Drive. This drive enables faster-than-light travel by creating an artificial black hole, folding spacetime so that two points instantly connect.
The Gravity Drive core uses exotic matter and advanced energy processing to generate a singularity, shrinking the distance between locations in space. In doing so, the event horizon does not travel in the traditional sense; Instead, it “jumps” from one point to another by traversing the entire overlapping space. Gravity Drive is located in a specialized and extremely terrifying room at the back of the ship, surrounded by containment fields and augmented structures to manage the extreme energy and G-forces it generates.
This all sounds well and good, except that there are terrible side effects. To move between two points, the “event horizon” must first pass through what is essentially an inferno. As you can imagine, this doesn't go well.
However, Event Horizon can get you where you're going very quickly. You'll probably be crazy or dead by the time you get there.
4. Discovery (Star Trek: Discovery)
the USS Discovery (NCC-1031) in Star Trek: discovery It is one of two Crossfield-class starships built by Starfleet. Both were equipped with an experimental propulsion system called Spore Drive, but only Discovery made it work.
This experimental engine uses the Mycelial Network, a subspace domain consisting of a vast network of spores covering the entire galaxy. Yes, he flies using space mushrooms.
The Spore Drive's bio-augmented system incorporates supercomputer-like organic matter Interface with a living navigator, most notably the tardigrade-like creature Ripper or later, Commander Paul Stamets, who uses injected spores to attach to the network. With access to this innate network, Discovery can instantly “jump” to any location in the universe, bypassing traditional warp speed limitations and enabling unparalleled tactical and reconnaissance capabilities.
The mechanics of the Spore Drive rely on advanced technobabble, with the ship essentially repositioning itself through microscopic channels in spacetime rather than traversing intervening space. While regular warp drives in Star Trek rely on manipulating space-time through the interaction of matter, antimatter, and dilithium crystals, the Spore Drive operates entirely outside of this model, providing instantaneous travel without any time dilation effects.
3. Guild ship (Dune)
Guild ships in Sand dunes They are massive starships used by the Spacing Guild for instantaneous interstellar travel, the cornerstone of the Empire's economy and administration.
These ships use space folding technology, made possible by the use of a psychoactive spice mixture. This ability gives Guild Navigators the visionary ability to plot safe paths through folded space. This process, known as Holtzmann-driven space folding, shrinks the vast distances between two points, effectively reducing travel time.
The Guild's ships are manned by mutated human navigators, who, after prolonged exposure to the spice, develop superhuman cognitive abilities and physical deformities. These abilities allow them to perceive the complex and shifting paths of folded space and avoid fatal collisions with celestial bodies.
These massive cylindrical ships could carry entire fleets or vast amounts of cargo, making them indispensable for trade, war, and governance.
2. The TARDIS (Doctor Who)
TARDIS Stands for time and relative distance in space. The Doctor made his maiden voyage long before the events we see on screen in Doctor Who. The incredibly ancient vehicle is a Type 40 time capsule built by the Time Lords on the planet Gallifrey.
The TARDIS is alive and incredibly intelligent. It exists in multiple dimensions simultaneously, which is why it is larger on the inside. This multidimensional nature allows it to avoid the natural limitations of time and space.
When the Doctor assigns coordinates to a new location either in time or space, the TARDIS is stripped of its current location, transported through a “time vortex,” and then reincarnated at the destination. The process is almost instant. A time vortex can be thought of as a highway that instantly connects different points across the space-time continuum, regardless of the distance between them or the temporal separation in the “normal” universe.
1. Heart of Gold (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Space is big. You won't believe how big, huge and amazing it is. I mean, you might think it's a long way to get to the pharmacy, but that's just a peanut to get to space.
So, if you're going to be traveling in space, you're going to need something fast. There is nothing faster than Heart of gold. It's unlikely to be number one on our list.
That's because The Heart of Gold is powered by the Infinite Probability Engine, a brilliant new way to cross vast distances in less than a second without all that tedious hyperspace messing around.
The engine exploits the natural chaos of the universe by passing through every conceivable point in every conceivable universe almost simultaneously. While your typical sci-fi engines might struggle to bend the laws of physics, the Infinite Possibility Engine throws it out the window and drinks tea with the resulting chaos. It's unlikely, and that's the point.
The origins of the Heart of Gold are as extraordinary and chaotic as the bowl itself. The ship was designed and built on the planet Damogran, where it was to be launched with great fanfare at a ceremony attended by the President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. Unfortunately, in a completely improbable move, Zaphod has stolen the Heart of Gold and taken it to the Unknown Regions.
Zaphod stole it because he knows what she knows now. If you're a Hoopy Frood character who knows where his towel is, there's no faster way to travel across the universe than aboard the Heart of Gold.
