Editing Hyperspace (section)

{{Short description|Faster-than-light travel in science fiction}}
{{About|the science fiction concept}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

[[File:WarpTrails001.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|Hyperspace travel is sometimes depicted as a starfield that streaks toward the viewer. A visual effect like this was first used in the 1974 film ''[[Dark Star (film)|Dark Star]]'', and it became a popular cinematic depiction, with a similar effect being used in the ''Star Wars'' franchise.]]

{{Spatial anomalies in fiction}}
In [[science fiction]], '''hyperspace''' (also known as '''nulspace''', '''subspace''', '''overspace''', '''jumpspace''' and similar terms) is a concept relating to [[dimension#Additional dimensions|higher dimensions]] as well as [[parallel universes in fiction|parallel universes]] and a [[faster-than-light]] (FTL) method of [[interstellar travel]]. In its original meaning, the term ''hyperspace'' was simply a synonym for [[higher-dimensional space]]. This usage was most common in 19th-century textbooks<ref name="Westfahl2005">{{Cite book|last=Langford|first=David|title=[[The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders]]|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-313-32951-7|editor-last=Westfahl|editor-first=Gary|volume=1|chapter=Hyperspace|author-link=Gary Westfahl|access-date=29 August 2014|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQMQQyIaACYC&pg=PA404}}</ref>{{rp|404}}<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" />{{Rp|94}} and is still occasionally found in academic and [[popular science]] texts, for example, ''[[Hyperspace (book)|Hyperspace]]'' (1994).''<ref name=":1" /><ref name="Stableford20063">{{Cite book|last=Stableford|first=Brian M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uefwmdROKTAC&pg=PA238|title=Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2006|isbn=978-0-415-97460-8|author-link=Brian Stableford|access-date=29 August 2014}}</ref>{{Rp|238–239}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kevles|first=Bettyann|date=15 March 1994|title=BOOK REVIEW / NONFICTION : His Scientific View Is Out of This World : HYPERSPACE: A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps and the 10th Dimension by Michio Kaku; Oxford $25, 344 pages|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-15-vw-34100-story.html|access-date=5 November 2021|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>'' Its science fiction usage originated in the magazine ''[[Amazing Stories Quarterly]]'' in 1931 and within several decades it became one of the most popular [[Trope (literature)|tropes]] of science fiction, popularized by its use in the works of authors such as [[Isaac Asimov]] and [[Edwin Charles Tubb|E. C. Tubb]], and media franchises such as ''[[Star Wars]]''.

One of the main reasons for the concept's popularity in science fiction is the impossibility of faster-than-light travel in ordinary ''[[physical space]]'', which hyperspace allows writers to bypass. In most works, hyperspace is described as a higher dimension through which the shape of [[three-dimensional space]] can be distorted to bring distant points close to each other, similar to the concept of a [[wormhole]]; or a shortcut-enabling [[Parallel universes in fiction|parallel universe]] that can be travelled through. Usually it can be traversed – the process often known as "jumping" – through a gadget known as a "hyperdrive"; [[rubber science]] is sometimes used to explain it. Many works rely on hyperspace as a convenient background tool enabling FTL travel necessary for the plot, with a small minority making it a central element in their storytelling. While most often used in the context of interstellar travel, a minority of works focus on other plot points, such as the inhabitants of hyperspace, hyperspace as an energy source, or even hyperspace as the [[afterlife]].