By Joshua Tyler
| Published
If you’re traveling in space, you’ll need a ship. Right now, the only ships we’re really capable of making are big, slow, fire-breathing rockets. Science fiction travels through space much faster.
Although some stories are better when things move slowly, science fiction is often more fun when things move at breakneck speed. But which sci-fi ship is the fastest?
It depends on what you’re asking. For example, a gunship is probably faster than a capital ship in normal space, but a capital ship capable of entering hyperspace is an easy winner. So, for the purposes of this list, we measure our ships solely by how fast they can get from point A to point B.
They are the fastest spaceships in science fiction.
8. Lexx (Lexx)
THE LEXX is a biomechanical spacecraft capable of traveling faster than light. LEXX moves through the universe via a biological propulsion system. This organic propulsion allows the ship to travel across galaxies and even between universes at speeds that are never precisely quantified but which prove to be far superior to most conventional ships in its universe.
Although it lacks the complex navigation systems typical of mechanical spacecraft, its biological design compensates with a natural affinity for movement in space. Its ability to cross intergalactic and interdimensional boundaries implies a very advanced system and perhaps stranger understanding of the spatial physics encoded in its organic systems.
Despite its unmatched speed, LEXX often requires advice from its crew to determine its destinations, as it lacks the cognitive capacity to make strategic decisions. The ship’s blend of organic propulsion and intuitive navigation positions LEXX as one of the most extraordinary ships in science fiction, even if it’s ugly.
7. Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)
THE Andromeda Ascendant is a Glorious Heritage-class heavy cruiser designed as part of the Systems Commonwealth High Guard fleet. With the fall of the Commonwealth, Andromeda is the only one of her kind.
The Andromeda’s propulsion relies on Slipstream Drive, a technology that allows faster-than-light travel through a network of natural pathways called slipstream routes. Unlike traditional FTL systems, wake navigation requires an intuitive pilot to plot courses on these unstable routes. Precise calculations are impossible due to the chaotic nature of wake physics.
Andromeda’s AI must collaborate with human pilots to navigate this complex system efficiently and quickly.
6. Planet Express Ship (Futurama)
THE Planet Express Ship is a cutting-edge delivery spacecraft designed by the brilliant but eccentric Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth.
The ship is powered by a dark matter engine, which offers almost infinite fuel efficiency and operates by moving the universe around the ship rather than the ship moving through the universe. This unique propulsion system allows the Planet Express Ship to achieve an effectively infinite speed relative to itself, enabling instantaneous or near-instantaneous interstellar travel.
The ship’s engine is powered by dark matter, a substance refined from the excrement of the Nibblonian species, making it as strange as it is efficient.
5. Event Horizon (Event Horizon)
THE Event Horizonbased on 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 allows faster-than-light travel by creating an artificial black hole, bending space-time so that two points instantly connect.
The core of the Gravity Drive uses exotic matter and advanced energy manipulation to generate a singularity, thereby reducing 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, bypassing the intervening space entirely. The Gravity Drive is housed in a specialized and very frightening chamber at the rear of the ship, surrounded by containment fields and reinforced structures to handle the extreme energy and gravitational forces it generates.
This all sounds great, except there is one horrible side effect. To pass between two points, the Event Horizon must first pass through what is basically Hell. As you can imagine, this doesn’t go well.
Still, Event Horizon can get you where you’re going very quickly. You’ll probably be mad or dead by the time you get there.
4. Discovery (Star Trek: Discovery)
THE USS Discovery (NCC-1031) In Star Trek: Discovery is one of two Crossfield-class starships built by Starfleet. Both were equipped with an experimental propulsion system called the Spore Drive, but only Discovery made it work.
This experimental project uses the mycelial network, a subspace domain composed of a vast network of spores spanning the entire galaxy. Yes, he basically flies using space mushrooms.
The Spore Drive’s biologically enhanced system incorporates a supercomputer-like organic system. interface with a living browser, notably the tardigrade-like creature Ripper or later, Commander Paul Stamets, who uses injected spores to connect with the network. By accessing this mycelial network, Discovery can instantly “jump” to any location in the universe, bypassing traditional warp speed constraints and enabling unprecedented tactical and exploratory capabilities.
The mechanics of the Spore Drive are based on advanced technobabble, in which the ship essentially repositions itself through microscopic conduits in space-time rather than passing through the space in between. While normal Star Trek warp drives rely on spacetime manipulation via matter-antimatter reaction and dilithium crystals, the Spore Drive operates entirely outside of this paradigm, providing instantaneous travel without warp effects. time dilation.
3. Guild Ship (Dune)
Guild ships in Dune are colossal spaceships used by the Spacing Guild for instant interstellar travel, a cornerstone of the Imperium’s economy and governance.
These ships use space folding technology, made possible by the use of a mixture of psychoactive spices. This ability grants guild navigators the prescient ability to chart safe paths through folded space. The process, known as Holtzman Drive-powered spatial folding, reduces the vast distances between two points, eliminating travel time.
Guild ships are piloted by mutated human navigators who, after prolonged exposure to spices, develop superhuman cognitive abilities and physical deformities. These abilities allow them to perceive the complex and changing trajectories of folded space and avoid deadly collisions with celestial objects.
These immense cylindrical ships can transport entire fleets or large quantities of goods, making them essential for trade, war, and governance.
2. TARDIS (Doctor Who)
TARDIS means Time and relative dimension in space. The Doctor’s ride made its 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 both alive and incredibly intelligent. It exists in several dimensions simultaneously, which is why it is larger on the inside. This multidimensional nature allows it to circumvent the normal constraints of time and space.
When the Doctor sets the coordinates of a new location in time or space, the TARDIS dematerializes from its current location, travels through the “time vortex”, then rematerializes at its destination. The process is almost instantaneous. The time vortex can be thought of as a highway that instantly connects different points on the space-time continuum, regardless of their distance or temporal separation in the “normal” universe.
1. Heart of Gold (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)
The space is big. You simply won’t believe how huge, huge and mind-boggling it is. I mean, you might think it’s a long way to the pharmacy, but it’s just peanuts to reach the space.
So if you’re going to travel to space, you’ll need something fast. There is nothing faster than Heart of Gold. This is unlikely to be number one on our list.
That’s because The Heart of Gold is powered by an Infinite Improbability Drive, a wonderful new method of traveling vast distances in less than a second without all that tedious work in hyperspace.
The reader exploits the natural chaos of the universe by passing through every conceivable point of every conceivable universe almost simultaneously. While your typical sci-fi engines may have trouble bending the laws of physics, the Infinite Improbability Drive throws them out the window and has tea with the resulting chaos. It’s improbable, that’s the problem.
The origins of the Heart of Gold are as extraordinary and chaotic as the container itself. The ship was designed and built on the planet Damogran, where it was to be launched with great fanfare in a ceremony attended by the President of the Galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox. Unfortunately, in a completely improbable move, Zaphod stole the Heart of Gold and transported it to parts unknown.
Zaphod stole it because he knows what you know now. If you’re a Hoopy Frood who knows where his briefcase is, then there’s no faster way to travel the Universe than aboard the Heart of Gold.
