Space Fold Travel
Space Fold Travel
MasumiX – help with the blanks?
Though Macross has named its FTL (faster then light) travel as a space fold, it is only a space fold in name. The means of FTL in Macross has very little in common with a true fold drive – a la the wonderful description in “Event Horizon.”
The Space Fold in Macross is more akin to entering a kind of hyperspace and using that to travel great distances in a short period of time. The Space Fold itself is the means that a vehicle uses to enter and exit hyperspace.
In addition, a vehicle erects a Space Fold Field around itself during transit through hyperspace. This is due to hyperspace having intensely different physics then real space. The Space Fold Field is used to retain a small patch of real space in hyperspace. If the Space Fold Field collapses while in hyperspace, the vehicle, its contents and crew will experience the physics of hyperspace – whatever those may be. The most likely effect on the crew is instant death.
Hyperspace and real space are both completely separate and connected to each other. The connection that concerns Fold Drive travel is gravity. It is the one constant that remains unchanged in hyperspace. Therefore, travel through a gravity mass means that the same gravity forces present will affect the patch of real space in the Space Fold Field. Therefore, if it’s a crushing gravity, then the vehicle in the midst of a space fold will be subjected to that crushing gravity.
This is a universal constant with the Space Fold Drives used by the Zentraedi and UNG. However, it is unclear if the Protocultures, Inspection Army and Protodevlin have developed a means to protect their vehicles from crushing gravity while in hyperspace.
The Protocultures developed and incorporated into the Zentraedi ships a mathematical formulae for determining the safe distance required for Space Fold travel past gravity masses. The UNG has adopted this formulae and use it for determining the safe travel distance from gravity masses.
(FORMULAE? Whereby G = Gravity, # = ??? and so on.)
Zentraedi and UNG Space Fold Drives are unable to travel in anything but a straight line. Therefore, to travel to the opposite side of a large (gravity) mass (eg: a Red Giant Star,) the travelers must make two Space Folds. The first to a point outside of the danger zone that is within the line of sight of both the origin and destination points.
For longer range travel between colonies where numerous (gravity) masses exist requires a series of Space Folds until arrival at the destination point.
The above applies to charted and documented space. In uncharted space it is an entirely different story. The UNG does have access to Zentraedi star charts. However, due to galactic drift and inconcise mapping in the first place, the Zentraedi Star Charts are considered ‘risky,’ at best. The UNG has adopted a policy of exploring and creating their own Star Charts based on strict scientific observation and guided by the Zentraedi Star Charts.
For the exploring UNG vehicles, it means a long, tiresome, repetitive cycle of defolding, scanning an area¹ and then folding to the edge of the sensor reading in the direction of travel. The effect of this is a well documented route. Though, the common practice² of UNG exploration means that a lot of the routes are not the most direct paths and tend to be roundabout.
¹ Long enough to determine the solar objects in the area, what there gravity effects are and their direction and rate of travel. Eg: the M15 fleet took about 3 months to get to where it is. However, the return trip requires only about 3 weeks to get back to Earth.
² The practice is to move towards regions or stellar objects of note. Eg: Star systems with planets potentially able to support a colony, tactical considerations (defense/offense) and known Protoculture ruins.
