One aspect of writing a “hard” science fiction novel is getting the science right, which often involves hours of research for what sometimes might amount to no more than a sentence or two of the narrative, while at other times it might yield a major plot point. Additionally, sometimes the finer points of astrophysics or orbital mechanics can take a bit of wrapping one’s head around, and for me, one way to cement my own understanding of the physics behind the story is to write about it, not just in the story itself, but in blog posts where I explain (mostly to myself) how stuff works.
Also, sometimes we can have a little fun with physics (and set it to music!), as you will see.
These technical writings of mine have a way of being buried in the blog history, so I thought it might be useful, or at least fun, to gather a few of them up in one place. Thus, here you can find gathered together the “cream of the crop,” as it were, in which I muse about the workings of a spacecraft in microgravity, how to maneuver around in orbit, how to get from one planet to another, and then finally, a potential way to get from one star to another. And yes, we pay some homage to a famous rock guitarist who also happens to be an astrophysicist.
header image credit: user:ParallelVision / pixabay.com via Pixabay License
Matt Fraser 