Do ships in the Farscape universe have FTL?

[Brent]

I have always wondered this, and I'm re-watching the entire series again, having one of my SCIFI marathons of old shows I like to watch again. I can't figure out though if the likes of Command Carriers and such, and Moya etc.. have FTL?

Obviously Moya has "Starburst", and this is an uncontrolled form of FTL, but the range is never explained is it?

Other than Starburst, how do ships get around to other planets out there? They must have a form of FTL in order to get to other star systems in that part of the galaxy. Obviously it isn't too fast or they would have gotten to Earth already, but they have to have a form of FTL to get around, right? For example, Moya travels to other star systems without Starburst, so she too must be able to travel faster than light? Could that be what the "Hetch" drive is?

 

[Admiral_Young]

It's never been explained in the series as far as I remember if there is another form of FTL used in the galaxy other than starburst. I just assumed that starburst is the Farscape equivalent of hyperspace or "jump". I'm pretty sure they have shown Peacekeeper battlecrusiers and Scarren warships use starburst. The only other thing we've seen in the show is John traversing a wormhole.

 

[Brent]

There is mention of the Hetch drive though, perhaps that is an FTL engine?

There has to be some way that Peacekeeper (and other) ships traverse space, sublight won't cut it with what we've seen.

BTW, from what I interpret from the show, Starburst is a Leviathan only sorta thing.

 

[Admiral_Young]

You would think so...and I don't remember mention of the 'Hetch drive' care to refresh my memory Brent?

 

[Reverend]

There's defiantly a mention of it in 'Terra Firma' when D.K. and Laura poking around the his module and asks what those modifications are.

"I'm not sure what I believe anymore. All this crap you've tacked on!"
"Hetch drive.- FTL."
"It can't work. It's theoretically impossible."
"Theory is wrong."

There's a handful of other mentions which are easy to miss and they never get into any explanation. I gather the writers didn't care very much and good on them too.

Only Leviathans are capable of starburst; everyone else is stuck with Hetch which is much slower.

 

[Lindley]

They're always moving about as "Hetch 3" and "Hetch 5" etc......I just interpret it as similar to warp factors.

 

[Jono]

Only Leviathans are capable of starburst; everyone else is stuck with Hetch which is much slower.

Except the Scarren Stryker warship which was stated to be faster than a Leviathan's normal starburst.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I gather the writers didn't care very much and good on them too.

Yeah, Farscape is really not that kind of series.

 

[Anwar]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

I think that's because people sometimes act as if the science of Trek is more well thought out than those shows. For example, sometimes you hear Star Wars is "space fantasy" and Star Trek is "science fiction".

 

[Fist McStrongpunch]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

It's the shows' fault. Star Trek has been crammed with ridiculous technobabble for years, and so very often it's a piece of technology that's driving the whole story. In BSG and Farscape, it's the people who drive the stories.

 

[Checkmate]

Yes, there is FTL capabilities outside of Starburst. Starburst is wholly unique to Leviathans. The main reason that the Peacekeepers and others couldn't keep up with Moya isn't because they lacked high speed travel, but because Starburst is pretty much random for the most part. Sure, Pilot and Moya could calculate a Starburst to try and get close to where they wanted to go, but to an outside observer they basically just disappear. There's nothing for them to track or plot a course around. Which is why Starburst was such an effective defensive move for Leviathans.

But yes, when the Peacekeepers were able to track Moya courtesy of a device they hid onboard, they were more than capable of catching up to her on a regular basis.

 

[Anwar]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

It's the shows' fault. Star Trek has been crammed with ridiculous technobabble for years, and so very often it's a piece of technology that's driving the whole story. In BSG and Farscape, it's the people who drive the stories.

But what I mean is, if the writers had wanted to do a story where the tech was just the plot device and it was a story about characters they'd get crucified for it while other shows can get away with it.

 

[RandyS]

I must have missed something on my recent rewatch. I thought Starburst was the FTL of that universe, in the same way that warp speed was the FTL in Star Trek. Hyperspace was in Star Wars, and Lightspeed was in the original Battlestar Galactica.

 

[Anwar]

Starburst is the way Moya itself travels through space (as an emergency escape technique) while it usually travels through space at FTL levels on its own natural ability. It was a plot device used to explain how Moya could evade the Peacekeeper Command Carrier and not be tracked.

Ships in Farscape usually travel using "Hetch drive".

 

[Mr. Adventure]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

It's the shows' fault. Star Trek has been crammed with ridiculous technobabble for years, and so very often it's a piece of technology that's driving the whole story. In BSG and Farscape, it's the people who drive the stories.

But what I mean is, if the writers had wanted to do a story where the tech was just the plot device and it was a story about characters they'd get crucified for it while other shows can get away with it.

I don't know, a lot of well regarded episodes such as Darmok, The Inner Light, The City on the Edge of Forever, The Visitor, etc. are really character stories with some lax science around it. I mean how does the guardian of forever work again?

 

[Checkmate]

Starburst is the way Moya itself travels through space (as an emergency escape technique) while it usually travels through space at FTL levels on its own natural ability. It was a plot device used to explain how Moya could evade the Peacekeeper Command Carrier and not be tracked.

Ships in Farscape usually travel using "Hetch drive".

Hetch drives are extremely slow by FTL standards (with "hetch" just being a measurement of speed); basically just a faster form of Star Trek's thrusters. It takes weeks if not months to travel between neighboring stars using them. Starburst is pretty much a "jump drive," while other ships used something closer to a warp drive. They travel in normal space, Moya hops a ride through bordering dimensions. Hell, even using the slingshot technique Crichton came up with during the premiere was significantly faster than what a hetch drive could do.

Again, the big deal about Starburst is that it's unpredictible and impossible to track. But if a Leviathan has some form of tracking device onboard (as Moya did several times), a Peacekeeper command carrier could easily catch up with it. Considering how close the calls were on several occasions, their form of travel is just a little faster than what a Leviathan can do by Starbursting (considering they need some downtime before they can make another jump). My guess is that the Peacekeeper's FTL method required an acceleration phase. They can't just "jump" to max speed. That would explain a lot, such as why they couldn't chase Moya during the aforementioned slingshot in the premiere.

Also keep in mind that Crichton had a hetch drive installed onto his module, and despite having one he was all but stranded when Moya Starburst away at the end of the third season.

 

[JonathonWally]

It's funny and a little sad: Shows that aren't big franchise shows like Farscape, Lexx, NuBSG can get away with stuff like this where they never explain their tech and just have them as background plot devices (if even that). But try something like in Trek where they have an FTL engine but never explain it, crucifixion.

That said, I loved Farscape.

I think nuBSG portrayed FTL the best. Knobs, dials, valves, gauges (Captain's Hand) and then engine things in Season 4. How do they work? Who knows, who cares! "Look, machinery and shit".

 

[Anwar]

Well, NuBSG's FTL is pretty much just a teleport machine that zaps you in the blink of an eye rather than accelerate you anywhere.

It's like the Teleport Engine from that 90s CGI show, Shadow Raiders.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I think nuBSG portrayed FTL the best.

In my opinion, nothing beats the Infinite Improbability Drive.