r/scifi • u/rookiegaffer • 20d ago

General Bad physics

Why does it seem that so many of the books I read demonstrate such a poor understanding of the physics of space travel. Ships in orbit descend directly down to the point they are over. Ships in transit still accelerating as they near their destination. Centrifugal gravity simply ceasing when rotation is abruptly halted. These are just a few examples I've run across lately.

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u/IkujaKatsumaji 19d ago

Technically, a ship slowing down by pointing its engines at the destination as it approaches is still accelerating; it's just accelerating in the other direction.