🚀 The Science of Space Travel: How Video Games Get It Right (and Wrong)
“In space, no one can hear your rocket’s engine roar… but they can hear you make epic space combat soundtracks.”
Space travel is a staple in many video games, from realistic simulators to high-octane sci-fi adventures. But how accurately do these games depict the science of space travel? Do they make the effort to stick to the laws of physics, or do they take creative liberties to amp up the fun? Let’s break down how video games get space travel right—and where they often go off-course.
🚀 How Space Travel Really Works
Before we jump into video games, let’s briefly cover the real science of space travel. Here’s what space travel in reality entails:
- No Air Resistance: Space is a vacuum, so you don’t need to worry about friction slowing you down. That means spacecraft can keep moving at the same speed unless acted on by something like gravity or thrust.
- Incredible Speeds: To escape Earth’s gravity, a spacecraft needs to reach escape velocity—about 11.2 km/s (25,000 mph). Once you’re in space, you don’t need to constantly burn fuel to keep moving; you just need to adjust your trajectory and speed occasionally.
- Orbital Mechanics: Space travel isn’t just about thrusting forward. You need to factor in gravity assists, slingshot maneuvers, and orbital decay (how orbits shift over time), which make space navigation incredibly complex.
- Energy and Fuel: Spacecraft need to carry fuel or find ways to use it efficiently. In real life, missions rely on highly efficient engines, like ion drives or nuclear propulsion for deep-space missions.
- Time Dilation and Distance: The farther you go in space, the longer it takes to get there. Even at super-high speeds, a journey to the nearest star would take thousands of years.
🌌 How Video Games Get It Right
Some games make a strong effort to portray realistic space travel, while others blend science with gameplay to make things more entertaining. Here’s how they manage to get space travel pretty close to the real deal:
🔹 1. Kerbal Space Program
Realism: 9/10
One of the most accurate space simulators out there, Kerbal Space Program lets players design spacecraft, plan orbits, and conduct realistic space missions. It sticks closely to real-world physics, including orbital mechanics, gravity assists, and thrust-to-weight ratios.
- 🚀 What it does right: The game simulates orbital mechanics perfectly, forcing players to understand concepts like Delta-V (the amount of velocity change required to complete a mission), Hohmann transfers (efficient fuel use to move between orbits), and gravity assists.
- 🧑‍🚀 What it does wrong: While the physics are pretty spot-on, the game’s visual aesthetic is much more playful. It also simplifies some complex ideas (like fuel usage and life support systems) to make gameplay more accessible.
🔹 2. Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen
Realism: 8/10
These space simulation games focus on exploring vast galaxies, trading, and engaging in ship-to-ship combat. Both offer realistic space travel mechanics like warp drives, fuel management, and navigation through realistic star systems.
- 🚀 What it does right: The use of Newtonian physics in these games means momentum plays a huge role—once you’re in motion, you need to plan your stops and decelerate appropriately, much like real space travel.
- 🧑‍🚀 What it does wrong: The speed of travel between planets and star systems is highly exaggerated. Traveling from one system to another would realistically take months or years, but in these games, it can take mere minutes with FTL (Faster-Than-Light) travel, a concept that’s still theoretical in real life.
🔹 3. No Man’s Sky
Realism: 6/10
While No Man’s Sky is far more focused on exploration and survival, it does incorporate some realistic space travel mechanics—like gravity wells and black holes affecting your ship’s trajectory. Players need to manage fuel for their hyperdrive to warp between star systems.
- 🚀 What it does right: The game’s approach to traveling between planets and star systems feels expansive, though the scale of the universe is simplified for gameplay purposes. It gives you a feel for long-distance travel.
- 🧑‍🚀 What it does wrong: The actual speed of travel is unrealistic—getting to distant planets takes seconds, and the physics are overly simplified. In reality, getting to even the closest planets would take many years with current technology.
🌠How Video Games Get It Wrong (and Why It Works)
While some games try to follow the real science of space travel, most lean into creative liberties for the sake of fun. Here are some areas where space travel in video games often breaks the laws of physics:
🔹 1. Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel
Almost every game in space includes some form of FTL travel—whether it’s warp speed, hyperdrive, or jump gates. In reality, traveling faster than light is theoretically impossible due to the relativity principle (nothing can exceed the speed of light in a vacuum).
- 🚀 In-game workaround: FTL travel is often used to make exploration possible without waiting years to reach other star systems. It’s a fun mechanic, but not something that’s physically feasible based on current scientific understanding.
🔹 2. Space Combat: No Sound in Vacuum
In space, there’s no air, so there’s no way for sound waves to propagate. Space battles in games, however, are often accompanied by loud explosions, laser blasts, and explosions, which sound awesome but violate real-world physics.
- 🚀 In-game workaround: While this isn’t realistic, space combat needs sound to give players an immersive and intense experience. Games will typically use music and visual cues (like shockwaves or ship vibrations) to create the atmosphere we expect.
🔹 3. Gravity
Most games either ignore zero gravity altogether or artificially add gravity inside space stations, ships, or planets. In reality, being in space means zero gravity unless you’re on a planet or a moon.
- 🚀 In-game workaround: Many games either simulate artificial gravity for the sake of gameplay (as in Star Trek or Mass Effect) or use gravity on planet surfaces to make gameplay more intuitive. Floating around in a space station would be frustrating for players if there were no artificial gravity.
🔹 4. Fuel Efficiency and Propulsion
Most space games (except the likes of Kerbal Space Program) make space travel look easy and energy-efficient. In reality, fuel is a huge concern in space. With current technology, we can’t just “top off” our tanks between missions or skip gravity slingshots.
- 🚀 In-game workaround: The game will often give players limitless fuel, or the fuel management will feel less strict to maintain pacing and fun.
🌌 Final Thoughts: Science Meets Fantasy
Video games have a unique challenge when it comes to space travel: they need to balance realistic science with fun gameplay. While we may not have warp drives or hyperdrives yet, and space combat won’t be explosive in a vacuum, the beauty of space games lies in the fact that they let us experience the vastness of the universe in a way that might be beyond our reach—at least for now.
🚀 Whether it’s the hard science of Kerbal Space Program or the thrills of jumping across light years in No Man’s Sky, space games give us an exciting glimpse into what might be possible, while offering the freedom to explore and dream big.
So, while games might get some aspects of space travel wrong, they inspire us to think about what might be possible. And who knows? Maybe one day, science will catch up to fiction.
Want to dive deeper into specific space mechanics from your favorite game? Or perhaps brainstorm a realistic space game design for a new project? Let me know! I’m ready to help launch your ideas into the stars. 🌟