The ship has no directional motion as it flips, meaning that anyone aboard will experience weightlessness. Throughout this process, the human body is under a barrage of forces. During the flip-and-burn, however, the physics can get intense. Since there are no brakes in space, this utilizes the ship’s thrust to slow it down and reach its target. These rockets will accelerate toward their destination, then, as the show calls it, “flip-and-burn.” At the midpoint of the trek, the ship literally flips 180 degrees and decelerates the rest of the journey. Linear acceleration works since these ships are always moving.

Smaller and faster ships in “The Expanse” utilize the idea of linear acceleration to simulate gravity. NASA is currently using this concept to design spaceships for manned journeys to Mars and beyond. The body of a ship in space spins, causing the centrifugal force that keeps passengers’ feet planted, which simulates gravity. Research stations and large ships, like the Nauvoo, rely on the idea of centrifugal force. To accomplish this, the show relies on the basic principles of Newtonian mechanics. Rocket Travel and Artificial GravityĪs “The Expanse” traverses through the Solar System, it manages to portray “artificial” gravity in a really effective way. So, the Mars Congressional Republic’s technological advancements are therefore able to handle the planet-wide workload. However, in “The Expanse,” Mars is a leader in environmental science and technology development. While practical in theory, this idea would require a ton of energy. Carbon dioxide would make the atmosphere denser and heat up the planet through the greenhouse effect. The soil on Mars is carbon-rich, and scientists hypothesize that burning it would release carbon dioxide.

This may seem like a inconsequential detail, but its basis is in actual Martian geology. This seems to be the first step of the Mars Congressional Republic’s terraforming project in “The Expanse.” On the planet’s surface, large towers emit gas into the atmosphere. Mars’ atmospheric density is only 6 percent of Earth’s, so it needs to be thicker to match our planet’s conditions. Making that atmosphere breathable is the first step in terraforming Mars. Mars is home to frigid temperatures, dry ice poles, dust storms, and a toxic atmosphere. Terraforming is the mostly theoretical process of altering the geology of a planet to become sustainable for humans. In “The Expanse,” Mars is a military state hellbent on colonizing the red planet through “terraforming”. In our world, scientists are already studying space colonization with facilities like Biosphere 2. Space colonization is a common theme in sci-fi, and “The Expanse” explores how humanity settled on Mars, asteroids, and the moon. In a little over two centuries, humankind in “The Expanse” colonized Mars, Earth’s moon, and most of the planets beyond the asteroid belt. The show has been acclaimed by critics, but scientists have also lauded its attention to detail. While the show may not be breaking wholly new ground on this subject matter, its execution is unparalleled. Beyond this, the show weaves an intricate spacescape, tackling alien technology, exoplanets, space battles, and interplanetary politics. “The Expanse” first follows an asteroid mining crew who team up with a hardboiled detective on a missing person’s investigation. The show takes place about two centuries in the future, where mankind has colonized the Solar System. “The Expanse” is Amazon Prime’s planet-hopping science fiction acquisition, currently airing its fifth season.

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