It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
What happens with FTL travel is that as you pass the speed of light (the EM barrier), the spatial dimension in the direction of travel shifts into the coordinate time realm, as speed is a reciprocal relation between space and time—cross the barrier, and you start having a temporal dimension instead of a spatial one. But, since time is 3D, not a 1D vector, you have to keep the ship going straight in the coordinate time realm, which means you need to be able to see the realm to properly navigate it. This is what the Orion Cube does. Upon transition to FTL velocity, the volume of the ship has been altered to 2 spatial dimensions and 1 temporal one—which means that in space, it appears as an area, not a volume, usually a flat disc or saucer shape, depending on the FTL speed. It gets flatter the faster it travels beyond the speed of light (the reciprocal relation: more time, less space). In time, it is cylindrical or jet-like, like a meteor streaking through the temporal landscape that needs an accurate flight path so it arrives at both the correct location in coordinate space, and in coordinate time.
In time, it is cylindrical or jet-like, like a meteor streaking through the temporal landscape that needs an accurate flight path so it arrives at both the correct location in coordinate space, and in coordinate time.