Inertial Dampening: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|'''Lt. Ford:''' It's strange not pulling any G-s.<br />

'''Maj. Sheppard:''' Yeah... Kinda miss it. Although at this rate of acceleration, we'd be dead by now.<br />

'''Lt. Ford:''' Yeah?<br />

Inertial Dampening is generally ''not'' [[Tim Taylor Technology]]. An overloading IDF [Inertial Dampening Field] has the opposite effect of most [[Applied Phlebotinum]], causing a greater inertial effect, usually culminating in a [[Star Trek Shake]]. Generally, however, the [[Star Trek Shake]] has no relation to the ''direction'' of inertia; i.e., the ship is traveling forward, but the crew feels a right-to-left effect.

Though often left unmentioned, [['''Inertial Dampening]]''' is a [[Required Secondary Powers|requisite side-technology]] to any spaceship that can turn or accelerate faster than an ocean liner. It's the reason why [[The Bridge]] has [[No Seat Belts]]. Note that the physical [[Hand Wave]] that accompanies many forms of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]] dictate that the ship does not accelerate in the traditional Newtonian or, for that matter, Einsteinian fashion, and so the inertial dampener is mostly for maneuvering and orbit changes.

In hard [[Sci Fi]], especially written but occasionally not, a more realistic method is used to cushion acceleration shock. Immersion in a fluid equal in density to the body would theoretically cause buoyancy forces to act counter to any accelerations; this is sometimes coupled with [[Human Popsicle|cryonics]]. Some method to allow the subject to continue to breathe in the fluid would be required, be it oxygenated liquids or a circulatory gas-exchange system. Since people riding around in bathtubs are not interesting on-screen (except from a voyeur's point-of-view) this has only rarely trickled down to the big and small screens; the exploration ship in ''[[Event Horizon]]'' and presumably the cryonics pods in the ''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Alien]]'' series are the exceptions.

Another relatively hard way would be use of dynamical [[Artificial Gravity]] to compensate inertial forces.

* In ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', the LCL fluid filling the Eva units' cockpits protects the pilots from the G-forces involved in piloting a [[Humongous Mecha]] -- among—among other things.

* Barely addressed in ''[[Code Geass]]''. The flying [[Humongous Mecha|Humongous Mechas]]s do sharp U-turns at velocities that would turn the pilot into paste all over the cockpit's walls (and probably dismantle the mechas themselves). Handwaved by [[Hot Scientist|Rakshata]] with the new pilot suits :

{{quote| '''[[Ace Pilot|Kallen]] :''' Will those increase the synchronization rate ?<br />

* Averted in ''[[Gundam]]'' all over the place. The [[World Building]] specifically comments that the facilities for sending people into space are slower than the ones used to transport objects because humans can't tolerate that level of Gs. In two separate series (''[[Gundam Wing]]'' and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]''), [[The Rival]] uses a machine that is incredibly fast but has little to no safety features in order to keep up with the Gundams; both pilots end up exhibiting [[Blood From the Mouth]], and in ''Wing'', we even see the Rival black out and suffer a heart attack from the stresses involved, despite being young and healthy.

* Averted: In the [[Tintin (Comic Book)]] adventures ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)/Recap/Destination Moon|Destination Moon]]'' and ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)/Recap/Explorers Onon the Moon|Explorers on the Moon]]'', the crew of the Moon-Rocket faints from the pressures caused by take-off and landing.

* Depending on the writer, this is often the reason why [[Iron Man]] can suddenly rocket off, take huge punches, fall from orbit and just crawl out of the crater. Other times it is simply [[Hand Wave|Hand Waved]]d.

* One of [[Don Rosa]]'s [[Disney Ducks Comic Universe|Scrooge McDuck ]] stories had the Beagle Boys get their hands on a raygun that "completely" removed inertia from objects (really having none at all would be a bizarre idea, but it was cut down to minimum so that anything short of air resistance would instantly stop the object's movement), as well as one that removed "all" friction. The results were interesting to say the least.

* "[[The Open Door (Fanfic)|A ship can't pull 10,000 Gs without some form of inertial compensation.]]"

* Subverted in ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]'': When the Eagle 5 comes out of "hyperactive", we see that Vespa's luggage is strewn about all over the place (of course, a crash landing will also do that, but the hyperdrive probably helped). Of course, we've just been exposed to the reason why you should buckle up in Ludicrous Speed. Smoke em if you've got em!

* The 2009 ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'' film has Sulu as helmsman forgetting to turn [[Inertial Dampening]] off. It's [[Played for Laughs]] (Pike asks about the parking brake; Sulu realizes it's a joke but doesn't get the connection, and Spock asks if he disengaged the external inertial dampers). {{spoiler|And then you get a little [[Mood Whiplash]], because ''Enterprise'' being late to the party is the reason it isn't one of the destroyed Federation saucers you see floating around at the destination...}}

* Taken to the logical extreme in [[EEE. E. "Doc" Smith]]'s ''[[Lensman]]'' novels, where entire spaceships, including their contents, are rendered inertialess. The consequences of this technology are explored in great detail.

** Spoofed in ''Backstage Lensmen'', a parody by [[Randall Garrett (Creator)|Randall Garrett]].

{{quote| Unfortunately, the Bergenholm, while it could completely neutralize inertial mass, never quite knew what to do with gravitational mass, which seems to come and go as the circumstances require.}}

* In the ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'' stories (and others by David Weber), inertial sinks (called "inertial compensators" in the Honorverse) are required to deal with, by "absorbing" the inertia otherwise generated, the ridiculously high accelerations ships can generate. Failure of the system, either through combat or sabotage, is considered terrifying by crews as undergoing 300 or more Earth gravities of acceleration instantaneously turns people into chunky salsa.

* [[Justified Trope]] in [[Alan Dean Foster]]'s ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' series by the unique method of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL propulsion]]. The ship generates an artificial gravity field ahead of it, to which the ship is then attracted. This motion pushes the field further in front of the ship, which pulls it forward, and so forth. (How this removes the problem of Newton's Third Law is [[Hand Wave|left unstated]].) Since this force acts equally on all parts of the ship, including the crew, there's no ''differential'' of acceleration and therefore no issue with G forces splattering everyone. A variant use of the drive provides the sensation of gravity so the crew can walk around, and combat vessels use a more sophisticated version of it to provide real [[Inertial Dampening]] for combat situations. When the drive is shut off or damaged, the ship and its crew are truly in free fall and normal rules of inertia apply.

* [[Hyperion|Endymion]] plays with this in the most [[Squick|Squicky]]y way possible. A ship is developed that can go at extreme speeds without the use of the, now lost, hyperspace gates. As a result the acceleration kills the pilot and copilot instantly then collects their liquefied remains in a little dish to be rebuilt later. {{spoiler|The whole thing is a lie, but knowledge of this trope is why people buy it}}.

* The [[Star Trek]] novel Federation, (Which was written well before First Contact) has Zefram Cochrane's first FTL trip taking the better part of a year, even though he only spent a few weeks actually going FTL, the rest of the time was used for accelerating and decelerating since inertial dampening hadn't been discovered yet. Upon returning to the solar system (specifically the moon Titan) he's told that the book's [[Big Bad]] has recently left Earth headed to Titan, and he has only 2-32–3 days to escape, which confuses him since, as he states, even using fluid tubes to cushion the inertia no human could survive the acceleration needed to make the trip that fast. Turns out the guy had stolen a ship equipped with the first prototype of an inertial dampening system.

{{quote| "Inertial control!" Sir John boomed out delightedly, tapping his cane on the floor. "I still say it's impossible, but, by God, it's exceedingly useful."}}

* Averted in [[CJC. J. Cherryh]]'s ''[[Alliance Union (Literature)|Alliance Union]]'' series. In addition to its primary purpose of traveling through hyperspace, a starship's FTL drive can be used to make instantaneous changes in velocity. Since this involves no acceleration, a starship can quickly achieve relativistic velocities without having to worry about inertia.

* For all its hardness, Poul Anderson's ''[[Tau Zero (Literature)|Tau Zero]]'' does have inertial dampening technology. It only works when travelling very close to the speed of light, though, so the heroes' [[Ram ScoopRamscoop]] has to accelerate at a measly 1''g'' for the first year of its journey.

* ''[[Lacuna (Literature)|Lacuna]]'' plays this straight with their gravity generating drives, which are also used as inertial dampeners in the ship. Strong movements can still be felt however.

{{quote| '''Carter:''' Inertia dampers?<br />

'''O'Neil:''' Cool. And check.<br />

Shortly thereafter:<br />

'''O'Neil:''' Phasers?<br />

{{quote| '''Sheppard''': "What you said was: 'Fire up the engines.' [[Literal Genie|What you should have said was]]: 'Turn on the inertial dampers.'"<br />

* ''[[Andromeda]]'' has "GFG Lenses" (Gravity Field Generator) that reduce the ship's ''effective'' mass down to about 1 &nbsp;kg. This helps to explain the quick flip-abouts that the rather large ''Andromeda Ascendant'' seems capable of.

* Averted in the roleplaying game ''[[Jovian Chronicles]]''. Most ships in the setting are actually built with their decks vertically arranged so that the g-force of acceleration (or deceleration for the second half of the trip) simulates gravity. (not unlike ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'''s rocket)

* Necron ships in [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] use inertialess drives. How they work is never really explained but they allow their ships to reach superluminar speeds without the use of warpdrives, apparently by enabling them to instantly and massively accelerate. Apparently the technology needed to build such engines is incredibly advanced and far beyond the reach of any of the other factions.

* In ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'', a prototype weapon has these as a safety feature. They are called "kinetic bleeders"

* The Arwing fighters in the ''[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]]'' series have "G-Diffusers". At one point in Star Fox 64's first mission, Falco's diffuser goes on the fritz, and he does indeed fly slower and take smoother turns for a while.

* ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'''s heroine has these built into her legs, as a justification for her being completely immune to falling damage (which would be quite a pain in such a game).

* In the computer game ''[[Anachronox]]'', you can read a bit of background that talks about the discovery of Anachronox and when a ship entered into an area that sped them up to faster than light speeds and when they stopped at a point far across the galaxy, they ''would'' have been amazed, except for the fact that intertial dampers hadn't yet been invented and so they ended up as messy spots on the wall. The next ship to enter ''did'' have inertial dampers and was just fine.

* The reason the pilot capsules in [[EveEVE Online]] are filled with liquid is partly because it reduces inertia and partly because it allows the pilot to better mindlink with the ship (as the capsule is essentially a sensoty deprivation tank).

* One of many components in your fighter, in the ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]]'' series, that can fail as you take damage, though the games don't model any actual effects of its loss other than ''any'' collision being fatal. In [[Wing Commander (Literaturenovel)|the novels]], it's noted to be fast, but not instantaneous.

* In ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'', the Liir use a specialized drive to prevent inertia -- sinceinertia—since their ships are filled with liquid and are a lot heavier than those of land-based species, they use a drive called 'stutterwarp' that performs millions of short-range (in the range of millimetre-long) teleportations per second, slowly driving their ships in a direction without causing inertia.

* Presumably, AMS Compatibility in [[Armored Core (Video Game)|Armored Core]] 4/for Answer also directly influences tolerance to G-forces. That particular universe ''is'' filled with hyper-maneuverable [[Humongous Mecha]] that can hit upwards from 100 kph in an instant acceleration to any lateral direction, repeatedly.

* Averted (and [http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1000/fv00917.htm played for laughs]) in [[Freefall (Webcomic)|Freefall]].

* Since [[Artificial Gravity]] is used for propulsion in ''[[Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)|Schlock Mercenary]]'' and ships routinely reach high fractions of ''c'', it's explicitely said that gravity-based inertial dampening is its own field of engineering, "Inertiics", and that said engineers make a lot of money making sure that people aren't hurt or injured by unwanted acceleration. This field is so advanced that it is implemented in a limited form in powered armor (which compensate for an impact with a gravitational tug, as acceleration only kills you when applied unevenly). The narrator also notes at one point that, due to the staggering magnitude of the g-forces involved in ship movement, the last thing you ever want to hear your shipboard AI say is "brace for acceleration", as that is very likely to be the last thing you hear at all.

* Real Life: Beginning in the 1940s and 1950s, as aircraft performance improved, aircrew, especially fighter pilots, began to faint in the cockpit during particularly hard maneuvers. This is very bad, for obvious reasons. Aircrew were issued with special G-suits beginning in WWII; these take the form of trousers which inflate during hard maneuvers. This keeps blood in the upper body; that way, the pilots don't faint or lose too much peripheral vision. They must use special breathing techniques and undergo centrifuge training to be able to stand it, however. Early G-suits were water-inflated; later models switched to air inflation. The recent, famous Libelle suit, from a German firm, uses "passive fluid bladders" to cushion and protect the pilot, and by all means works very well. The name means "dragonfly" in German; the dragonfly is designed in much the same way. Liquid immersion has been tried in real life; a Dr. R. Flanagan Gray took a ride in a water-filled centrifuge capsule at one point, safely sustaining 31 Gs for several seconds. Another man, a Colonel John Stapp, volunteered as a human guinea pig, experiencing extreme decelerations during rocket-sled tests. Later, a Captain Eli Bleeding sustained 83 g for a brief instant...well, negative g, anyway. The research had civilian applications; it went a long way towards improving automobile safety. John Stapp was present when the act mandating the inclusion of seatbelts in all new US vehicles was signed into law by President Johnson.

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