# "Real" Physics in Space Battle **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418 "2016-10-13T14:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/41 "2016-10-14T15:35:31Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Speaking of games, the new game [Children of a Dead Earth](http://store.steampowered.com/app/476530/) is very specifically designed as a scientifically realistic space battle game. Interesting. It seems to me that combat with near-future spaceships would be a pretty terrible idea. With limited Δv, there’s not going to be a lot of orbital maneuvering. My WAG is that it’ll come down to detection: if you can spot a ship or missile on an intercept course early enough, you can dodge it without spending much Δv. But if you don’t detect it in time, you’re screwed, because a missile could have way more Δv for terminal guidance than you can ever use to evade it. What kind of Δv budgets do the ships in that game have? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/42 "2016-10-14T16:05:11Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I have always imagined that space battles would not be dissimilar to sea battles in sailing ship days. Ships would take hours to manoeuvre into a ‘good’ position, … True. And look at the greatest Star Trek movie ever, 1951’s _Captain Horatio Hornblower._ While the battles in the movie are portrayed accurately for combat, they aren’t for time. The interveining hour or so while the ship turns around, gets rerigged, and lines up for another pass, are completely removed for the sake of a decent movie. Still the result is that the combat ends up looking exactly like Star Trek. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/43 "2016-10-14T16:49:42Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > True. And look at the greatest Star Trek movie ever, 1951’s _Captain Horatio Hornblower._ I believe the greatest Star Trek movie was _The Forbidden Planet._ :dubious: Hornblower is certainly close. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/44 "2016-10-14T19:34:59Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believe the greatest Star Trek movie was _The Forbidden Planet._ :dubious: > > Hornblower is certainly close. I go back and forth which is number one. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/45 "2016-10-14T19:50:03Z")
Planet has the triumvirate, bad Doctor, Damsel in Distress, and big monster. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/46 "2016-10-14T20:48:32Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > if you have the tech to travel near the speed of light, a devastating weapon would be a small ship that goes past you without slowing down, having first fired out clouds of expanding sand. The ship passes you before you know it’s there, and then suddenly you’re vapour. . . . This was how combat was depicted in the SF comic book “Albedo.” Two ships rush toward each other at high speed, jinking madly to prevent their exact position being predicted. They eject swarms of “autonomous combat vehicles” – combat drones. The drones have weapons, but the drones also have enough mass to mess up the other guy’s ship if they collide. The actual combat is over in less than a second, all by computer. You blink…and then thank God you’re still alive. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2016, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418/47 "2016-10-15T09:38:35Z")
The light novel series & anime _Starship Operators_ put some thought into space battles. The setting has jump tech and ansibles, but seems largely to have physics as we know it otherwise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/real-physics-in-space-battle/768418.md?page=2)