Although space battles look really cool in shows like Battlestar Galactica and in movies like Star Wars, they are, unfortunately, highly unrealistic.
Those albeit gorgeous space combat scenes from Star Wars, for example, take more of their cue from World War II air and naval combat, and have nothing to do with the actual physics of fighting in space. These films, however, set the standard for much of what we still see regarding space combat in media.
It makes sense to provide audiences with combat from this point of view, because it's what we know. Also, the truth is that real space combat would probably be really boring.
A new video, released by the PBS "It's Okay To Be Smart" web series, addresses these issues with sci-fi space battle and looks at the physics that would define actual space combat.
One of the largest points made in the video, and known to anyone who has a little scientific knowledge, is that there is no sound in space. So all that noise, those bangs and booms, would never be heard. Real space battles would be completely silent. There would never be even a single "pew pew."
Another thing about those huge explosions is that they are also impossible. Those fireballs couldn't happen in space because there is no atmosphere there.
Real laser weapons would also be different. As they operate outside the visible range of light, they would not appear as red or blue streams, but would, in fact, be invisible. They would also be nearly impossible to maneuver over long distances in space.
The spacecraft we see in sci-fi media is also unlikely. Take the X-Wing, for example. Such a spacecraft would be hard to maneuver, at least like we see in movies and on TV.
"In some ways, realistic space combat would be closer to the 18th century than it is today ... imagine days-long communications delays and battles that are fought with cannons and musket balls -- except, it's happening in space," says the video.
The video also questions why we assume that space exploration will eventually lead to war. However, it does show that if there is war in space, the combat would be slow, quiet and boring.
