Quote:
Originally Posted by pdurrant
Yes, that was very weird. Unless, perhaps, they needed a very low orbit for transporters to work? (I know, I'm trying to justify a plot device with hand-waving talk about another plot device.)
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That was always how I rationalized it to myself. They needed to be geostationary, but much lower than a geostationary orbit, so "standard orbit' was actually a very low, highly powered flight mode. It helped me get to sleep.
My personal peeve is space ships coming to a 'stop' when the engines quit.
To be fair, the realities of space flight and orbital mechanics can really make for a dead slow story. I mean, 'The Martian' did it, but that one transfer orbit took years...not every story can support that....
Maybe I'll do story that establishes:
"The ship activated its FTL drive and jumped into hyperfield underspace, where, by an amazing coincidence, ships handled almost exactly like airships in an atmosphere...."