Out of Gas and Gravity

POSTED BY: Ixian
UPDATED: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 22:39
VIEWED: 10890
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IXIAN

Sunday, April 30, 2006 5:55 AM

My first post here and I thought I'd open with a question that has bugged me since I first watched this incredible show:

In Out of Gas, an episode that usually makes it in to the "top two" for most fans, we see the effects of Serenity losing most of it's power and life support. However, what about gravity? Obviously, the show's budget wasn't going to allow for any floating about inside the ship for an extended period, but was it ever explained? You'd think with both the engine and life support going out, to the point where there was no more air being produced nor heat that there wouldn't be gravity either, but it's ignored. The ship is even shown a couple times sitting bone-still in space. Was this ever explained or is it just one of those things we have to chalk up to creative license?

FLETCH2

Sunday, April 30, 2006 6:03 AM

The roleplaying game attempts to explain it in terms of ubertech (kind of out of keeping with Firefly's low tech approach.)

At it's heart Firefly isnt really a tech show, the tech is inconsistant and the 'Verse in general doent really work. I think you just have to suck it up and accept it and glory in the rich characterisation as compensation.

DATALESS

Sunday, April 30, 2006 6:29 AM

If you listen to The Signal Podcast they postulated that the gravity is most likely something that uses zero point energy and that once you turn it on it is always on and is independent from the ship's power systems. The episode is the second of the second season. Here's the link http://signal.serenityfirefly.com/season2/signal_002.html I hope that helps.

ANONYMOUS1

Sunday, April 30, 2006 6:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Ixian:
In Out of Gas, an episode that usually makes it in to the "top two" for most fans, we see the effects of Serenity losing most of it's power and life support. However, what about gravity? Obviously, the show's budget wasn't going to allow for any floating about inside the ship for an extended period, but was it ever explained? You'd think with both the engine and life support going out, to the point where there was no more air being produced nor heat that there wouldn't be gravity either, but it's ignored.

Great first post.

Here is my explantion.

In the episode "The Message"

Kaylee says "All this hard banking. When the gravity drive and actual gravity start working against each other, it tosses the lunch about a bit."

Serenity didn't lose power. It lost engine that made it move. It lost life support. No heat. No fresh air. But the lights still worked. The screen monitor worked. The hatch that let in fresh air worked. And the gravity drive still worked. Maybe the gravity drive supplies the power for all those other things...zero point module?? (SG Atlantis)

ANONYMOUS1

Sunday, April 30, 2006 6:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fletch2:
The roleplaying game attempts to explain it in terms of ubertech (kind of out of keeping with Firefly's low tech approach.)

I don't think it is low tech approach. Look at the Ariel hospital imaging system examing River.

I think Joss explained the shows attitude toward tech somewhere. Everyone is used to the level of tech and it is considered normal. When something breaks, you get the person who knows how to fix it or you throw it out and get a new one. Nobody talks about the gravity drive until it stops working.

Just like electricity, phones, TVs, cars, computers on Earth That Was. They were amazing once. Taken for granted now that you flip the switch and the electricity turns on.

Zoe: "You live on a spaceship, dear."
Wash: "So?"

Quote:
Originally posted by Fletch2:
At it's heart Firefly isnt really a tech show, the tech is inconsistant and the 'Verse in general doent really work. I think you just have to suck it up and accept it

Why when you can make up explanations for everything and in an emergency use magic?

Quote:
Originally posted by Fletch2:
and glory in the rich characterisation as compensation.

So true!

FLORALBUNNY

Sunday, April 30, 2006 7:23 AM

Ixian wrote:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My first post here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And you are 'coat #20483 or thereabouts.

Welcome to our sector of the 'Verse. Check out the buffet in the galley. Strawberries a specialty of the house. If we can find FollowMal we'll have her issue your virtual browncoat.

Enjoy a frosty mug of Mudder's Milk while you contemplate the mystery that is the Science of Firefly.

Whedon has stated that he "gave up on science" as a teenager, so we might as well lie back, relax and enjoy it.

For OoG, I'm in favor of the explanation that it is the engine which powers the heat and air systems, maybe (though not necessary to discuss it) the water reclamation, but not electricity which runs lights and comm., and whatever runs the "gravgen."

bun
~6/23~Serenity/Firefly Summer~9/30~
----- why's the rum gone? -----

J6NGO1977

Sunday, April 30, 2006 1:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fletch2:
The roleplaying game attempts to explain it in terms of ubertech (kind of out of keeping with Firefly's low tech approach.)

At it's heart Firefly isnt really a tech show, the tech is inconsistant and the 'Verse in general doent really work. I think you just have to suck it up and accept it and glory in the rich characterisation as compensation.

I agree, Whedon never explains Techy stuff in Firefly unlike Star Trek that trys to explain it's own verse with 'Flux Capacitors and Inertial Dampers'. At the end of the day the show is about the people in a future setting. Maybe the gravity generator is in another part of the ship away from the engine room. Remember it's 500 years in the future. Anything could have happened and anything could have been invented in between now and then. We just don't know

ZISKER

Sunday, April 30, 2006 1:11 PM

Welcome to the board, Ixian!

Wow. You know, I never even caught this one before. But I would agree with the sentiment that Firefly is more 'soft SF' and character focused than 'hard SF' and science focused. For me (even though there's an explanation in the RPG), that's enough to suspend disbelief and assume the gravity is on an independent system. And, as Anon1 pointed out, the lights stayed on. The show was very good at dealing with integrated technology - heck, even Kaylee was a mechanic, not some fancy-dan engineer.

One day.
One plan.
One army of Browncoats.

On June 23rd, we aim to misbehave.
http://www.serenityday.org/

Little or no free time, but want to help?
Help Spread the Signal: http://www.geocities.com/browncoatsignalcorps

DATALESS

Sunday, April 30, 2006 1:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous1:
zero point module?? (SG Atlantis)

On SG-1 and Atlantis a Z.P.M. Or Zed P.M. is a module that taps in to a scientific concept called Zero Point Energy. Zero point energy is believed to the energy source that creates gravity or it could just be fiction.

Did you know that every object no matter how big or small has a gravitational pull and that pull exerts its pull on every other object in the universe?

IXIAN

Sunday, April 30, 2006 3:08 PM

Wow, thanks for all the responses. I see this is a very active community.

I guess I can be called a latter-day Browncoat:); Firefly was always one of those shows I heard about but never got around to watching. I tried watching the pilot a couple times when SciFi showed it but the beginning just made it seem like a cheesy very low-budget futuristic war show (little did I know that while very important to the story that beginning was nothing like the rest of the show). I finally gave in several months ago, sat down and watched all of Our Mrs. Reynolds - and was immediately hooked. Bought the DVD set the next day and haven't looked back :)

Regarding the "soft science" concept in Firefly: I agree, it shouldn't be like Star Trek where every little piece of tech is explained with pseudo-science (and then, when a later show contradicts it, the fans get in an uproar) and gizmo's are a fixture of the show, however in the case of OoG it does stand out because of the nature of the plot. Since the whole show revolves around the ship Serenity "dying" and Mal refusing to give up it's the only show where for the first time I even bothered to notice gravity; everything else was going out on Serenity so why not it? They even make a point of showing the ship "sitting" dead still in space, the debris from the fire floating in place around it. I guess we can assume the ship's batteries were still running (and would last longer than the air, at any rate) but would that be enough to power...gravity? I guess I had a hard time with that concept that air and heat could be completely cut off but gravity somehow still functions.

Obviously I am thinking about this too hard to I'll just give it a rest and enjoy the show some more :-)

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