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In every scene from Star Wars, where people are in a space shuttle, flying through space, they appear to be under the force of gravity, as if they are on a planet like earth... If they were truly in space then they would float in the space shuttles like the astronauts do on the ISS.

Is there some kind of 'artificial gravity generator' equipped in each space shuttle? Or do they ever provide an explanation for this physical phenomenon?

Möoz
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Jalapeno
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    It's a standard sci-fi trope that pretty much every sci-fi film or tv series uses "gravity plating" or something similar. It's rarely explained or given a name. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a rare exception to this. The general assumption is they've got some of electronic device which creates gravity. When the writers are feeling brave (and the budget allows) they might cause it to break for a bit of drama. – Tim Mar 02 '17 at 22:02
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    "they might cause it to break for a bit of drama" that's epic, what a classy way to demonstrate the director's ins with Physics. Which productions have used this effect btw? I'm not that into Astro Sci-Fi but I'm really into Astrophysics and other genres of Sci-Fi – Jalapeno Mar 02 '17 at 22:07
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    @JonasBezzubovas, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. – Dima Mar 02 '17 at 22:12
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    Note that if they were truly in space, they would only float like astronauts on the ISS if the ship were not under thrust (freefall). Constant thrust/acceleration would in fact create a steady "gravity", although in the direction of the ship's drive plume. (The Expanse is an example of a book/TV series that does this right.) – tobiasvl Mar 02 '17 at 22:16
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    they are obviously being pushed downward by all the propagating sound waves from explosions in space. – KutuluMike Mar 02 '17 at 22:31
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    @JonasBezzubovas - uh, astrophysics isn't a genre of sci-fi. It's a science in its own right, and is by necessity used a lot in the sci-fi genre. Some shows that have had lost gravity is Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5. Usually it's just a small part of a single episode, as a "the power is off in that section" thing. – Tim Mar 02 '17 at 22:46
  • @tobiasvl - Is that still the case? Last episode of Expanse clearly showed what looked like artificial gravity without acceleration. Like when the two guys landed on Eros. And in the support ship, which wasn't moving, they walked around like it had gravity. – Tim Mar 02 '17 at 22:48
  • @Tim Well, the characters use magnetic boots sometimes. Expensive to do zero gravity scenes all the time (but the show does have some). What it does do right all the time, though, is the fact that ships look like skyscrapers with the drive on the bottom and that "down" is always toward the drive when under thrust, and that people need to be on steroids in order to not stroke out when under heavy thrust. Also that there's no sound in space (re: @KutuliMike). – tobiasvl Mar 02 '17 at 22:54
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    George Lucas thought the parsec was a unit of time. Science isn't his forte. – Moriarty Mar 02 '17 at 23:42
  • I've edited the dupe to address ships more widely as well as including some info about seat restraints. – Valorum Mar 04 '17 at 15:06

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