->The fun, and the material for this article, lies in treating the whole thing as a game. I've been playing the game since I was a child, so the rules must be quite simple. They are: for the reader of a science-fiction story, they consist of finding as many as possible of the author's statements or implications which conflict with the fact as science currently understands them. For the author, the rule is to make as few such slips as he possibly can.
--> -- Hal Clement, "Whirligig World" (1953)

->'''Isaac:''' Interesting. What's the explanation for how it actually works?
->'''Warren:''' The [[FasterThanLightTravel hyperdrive]] utilizes '''IJD''' technology.
->'''Isaac:''' Inter...dimensional jump? IDJ?
->'''Warren:''' IJD. "It Just Does".
-->''Absurd Notions'', [[http://www.absurdnotions.org/page111.html pg. 111]].

SpeculativeFiction fanatics are always raving about how "hard" the science is in various stories -- but it's not like you can rub ''a story'' with a piece of quartz and see if it leaves a scratch on ''the plot''. So what is "hardness" in SF? Why do people want it? And [[SortingAlgorithmOfTropes how do we put a number to it]]?

Beginning with the first question: "Hard" ScienceFiction is firmly grounded in reality, with few fantastic flights of fancy not justified by Science™. "Soft" SciFi is more flexible on the rules. Even the fantastical aspects of the story will show a divide -- in hard SF, they operate through strict, preferably mathematical, laws, where in soft SF they just work however the author feels like. What this leads to for hard SF -- and this is part of the attraction for many people -- is a raised bar for the amount of work the writer must put into the story.

Example: A character is shown a time machine and asks, "How does it work?"

*'''In hard SF:''' "A good question with an interesting answer. [[{{Infodump}} Please have a seat while I bring you up to speed]] on the latest ideas in quantum theory, after which I will spend a chapter detailing an elaborate, yet plausible-sounding connection between quantum states, the unified field theory, and the means by which the brain stores memory, all tied into theories from both Einstein and Hawking."

*'''In soft SF:''' "You sit in this seat, set the date you want, and pull that lever."

Unfortunately for analytical purposes, this pattern is not universal - hard SF stories can skip over the details as long as the basic explanation doesn't seem to [[MagicAIsMagicA conflict with anything that's been established so far]]. Therefore, regardless of the [[http://www.shrovetuesdayobserved.com/flight.html typical stylistic flourishes]] of hard SF, the only way to define it is self-consistency and scientific accuracy.

Which leads us to the Scale.

0. '''Softest''': The MST3KMantra is your SurvivalMantra. YourMileageMayVary as to how soft these marshmallows are.

1. ''ImportedAlienPhlebotinum'': There are technologies that break the laws of physics, but we don't have any real idea how they work, or they are dependent on a resource that apparently appeases some higher power.

2. ''MinovskyParticle'': The laws of physics are broken in a specifically declared way. Expect [[WallOfText hundred-page dissertations]] [[ShownTheirWork on fictional physics]] and [[MagicAIsMagicA consistent internal rules]].

3. ''FTLTravel'': The ''only'' intentional departure from the laws of reality is that we've finally outsmarted Einstein, or just made him look the other way while we slip by -- at the very least to [[SubspaceAnsible send messages]]. Everything else will be justifiable under known scientific principles.

4. ''No FTL'': Mostly justifiable under known scientific principles, including any (necessarily sub-lightspeed) space travel, limited mostly to {{Interplanetary Voyage}}s, with anything greater being a massive undertaking-- CasualInterstellarTravel is an impossibility. Even if some aspects are slightly softer than in a story with FTL, the physicists will forgive it in exchange for appeasing their Einstein-worship. (Ken Burnside has a [[http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3al.html particularly scathing rant]] to that effect.) Home of the GenerationShip.

5. ''{{Unobtainium}}'': Contains only theoretical yet plausible elements. NO FTL in any way, shape or form.

6. ''IWantMyJetpack'': Real Life plus [[InterplanetaryVoyage Space Travel]]. The only objective way to grade these is by their age: newer generally means harder. {{Zeerust}} hits '''hard''' here - one can always tell when [[ScienceMarchesOn Science]] and/or TechMarchesOn. Arguments as to ''why'' we do not have space travel do not belong on this wiki, but '''''EVERYONE''''' agrees that its lack is part of the reason [[YouSuck We Suck]].

7. ''NextSundayAD'': ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Just like now, but some interesting techologies are more effective and/or more accessible. This may or may not be a good thing.

8. '''Hardest''': ''RealLife''.

Bear in mind, of course, that '''no simple single-dimensional scale can encompass the full nuances of the idea of "hardness" in Science Fiction'''. (Just [[FlameBait look at the arguments on the discussion page]]!) Other scales might be made - for example [[http://www.kheper.net/topics/scifi/grading.html the Kheper scale]]. Consider also the [[MundaneDogmatic Mundane Manifesto]] -- an attempt to define a set of rules for writing a hard SF story or series by deliberately forbidding many of the [[SpeculativeFictionTropes traditional tropes]] of media Sci-Fi.

Many find "hard" sci-fi superior for two reasons: First, [[MagicAIsMagicA maintaining internal consistency]] makes for tighter plots, and the Mundane Manifesto is a literal jungle-gym of hoops to jump through. [[TheyJustDidntCare You really don't have to care]] if you're [[AssPull making all it up]]. Whereas if you [[ShownTheirWork show your work]] on a complex project, everyone can tell that you are DoingItForTheArt.

Second, both keeping track of your AcceptableBreaksFromReality and refraining from them altogether assist greatly in maintaining a WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. Compare: Imagine [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helium-3 Helium-3]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion fusion]], and we'll have a reason to [[IWantMyJetpack go back to the Moon]]. Imagine {{Minovsky Particle}}s and we ''will'' build HumongousMecha. Imagine [[MassEffect Element Zero]] and we have FasterThanLightTravel. Imagine a GreenLanternRing, and ... [[SoYeah well, yeah]].

Please recall, though, that harder is [[TropesAreNotGood not always a good thing]]. Some authors try so hard to make a story realistic they forget plot and characterization, or end up justifying their occasional break from reality with layers of {{technobabble}} (never mind that the most famous example of that is [[StarTrek on the soft end]]). Textbooks cannot replace storytelling - at least while you're [[ShapedLikeItself telling stories]]. No degree of hardness is intrinsically better than any other, and any given person's preferences will depend on their personal tastes and the strength of their WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. SturgeonsLaw trumps the laws of physics 90% of the time.

[[TropeNamer The name]] comes from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale Mohs scale of mineral hardness]]. Compare SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic and SlidingScaleOfLikeRealityUnlessNoted.

'''''Please note:''' This list of examples is ranked. That means Soft stuff goes on top, and Hard stuff goes on the bottom. Softer items are closer to the top, while Harder items are further away towards the bottom. So, if you know about a really, really hard work of sci-fi, don't place it under "Hardest"; instead, place it at the very bottom of the list, right above "Hardest".''

'''''Please also note:''' ScienceFiction only, please -- no {{Fantasy}}.''
----
'''Softest''' : The MST3KMantra is your SurvivalMantra. YourMileageMayVary as to how soft these marshmallows are.

* ''{{MST3K}}'': Stuff happens. [[MST3KMantra Don't think too much how]]. Characters breathe in space on at least two occasions. [[InstantAIJustAddWater Artificially intelligent robots]] built entirely out of random spare parts. A VW Microbus converted into a spaceship. As the theme song says: "It's just a show. You really should relax."

* ''{{Futurama}}'': Chock full of every single popular science fiction trope, often with [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum intentionally silly]] ReverseThePolarity style answers to justify them. Only "harder" than ''MST3K'' because there's no MST3KMantra in the opening.

* ''[=~The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy~=]'': Packed full of all kinds of bizarre nonsense (one example -- the fastest mode of travel through the universe is by ''bistro''. Yes. Bistro. As in "place you eat in" or "second most overworked word in food marketing after '''new''' "), but the stories are fully aware of how absurd it is, and the reader ''is'' encouraged to think about it.
** The word 'bistro' is very likely derived from Russian "bystro" which means -quickly- or -fast-.

* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': The universe is not run not by the laws of physics, but by the RuleOfCool. While the show remains *relatively* non-screwing with physics in the first arcs, the latter one more than makes up for it.

* ''GetterRobo'': being pretty much ''Gurren Lagann'''s [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Grandaddy]], it's pretty much just as unscientifically ludicrous and run by RuleOfCool (hell, Spiral Energy's a giant {{Expy}} of Getter Rays). The only reason why it's "harder" is we have yet to see Ryoma kill a giant robot using a pair of sunglasses.

*''{{Digimon}}'': Kids traveling with data-based lifeforms from a parallel universe founded Earth's Communications network. If it the explanation didn't involve technology, most seasons would be considered pure fantasy. DigimonTamers is slightly harder, but not by much.

* ''StarTrekVoyager'': Ship went so fast that it was everywhere in the universe at once and then the crew "evolved" into lizards? Yow! (Specifically the episode "Threshold", recapped [[http://www.agonybooth.com/extras/trek/threshold/ here]].)
** [[CanonDiscontinuity It never happened]].

* ''{{EarthBound}}'': {{Psychic powers}}, zombies, a living ''tent'', mind-controlled sentient animals, a dog possessed by a member of the dev team, a cult that worships the color blue, an idol that makes people greedy and an [[{{HP Lovecraft}} Azathoth]] clone as a {{Big Bad}}. And [[{{Mother3}} the sequel]] is even ''weirder''.

* ''AirGear'': Where to start? Start by forgetting everything you've heard about inertia, gravity, and especially aerodynamics. Wielding motorized Rollerblades the right way will allow you to fire hurricanes at people. Hundred-foot drop? No problem, your A-Ts will absorb the impact. The awesome part is that all of it is explained in the manga. While air gear starts off semi-realistically, it's as if the author just keeps making up laws of physics on the go, purely to to justify increasingly unrealistic attacks.

* [=~Pokémon~=]: Takes place in an AlternateUniverse where the only major difference is that evolution took a completely different route. Some of the creatures have rather fantastic powers, though most of the more outrageous ones are given at least some justification (Slowking is superintelligent because toxins reacted with its brain chemistry, burns from Houndoom's fire never heal because enzymes in the flames prevent skin from regrowing, etc.). There are also several technologies which are somewhat unrealistic, such as teleportation and the ability to convert a creature into PureEnergy for storage and reconstruct it later.

* ''KingdomHearts'': Extremely condensed universe, yet each planet is somehow represented as a distant star. Faster than light travel, deflector shields, tiny {{Single Biome Planet}}s, {{Asteroid Thicket}}s, a SpaceWhale, do-anything computers (including an InsideAComputerSystem sequence), and the softest of mad science.

* ''CommandAndConquer Red Alert'' series: It ''starts off'' with Einstein [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct traveling back in time to assassinate Hitler]]. By the time we're finished, we have dolphin commandos, psychically-controlled giant squid, electricity-draining [=UFO=]s, psychic soldiers that set people on fire with their minds, cloning machines, teleporting commandos who erase their targets from space-time, and bear paratroopers.
**Bearatroopers.
** Lampshaded when in in the ''Red Alert 2'' mission "Fallout", where after being given control of dolphins to fight mind-controlled squids, Lieutenant Eva, asks "What's next, killer whales?"

* ''{{Transformers}}'': Okay, so there are these impossibly ancient space robots, right? And they come to Earth in search of energy, right? And to disguise themselves, they turn into cars and trucks and guns and stuff, right? And the cars have realistic engines and passenger compartments and tires and everything, even though it's actually a giant outer space robot. Oh, and some of them can [[ShapeshifterBaggage shrink down from giant space robot size to tape deck sized]]. And some of them are [[GeniusLoci entire living cities and planets and stuff]]. Throw in a bunch of [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs coked-out 80s kiddie TV writers]] who are [[MoneyDearBoy just in it for the cash]], and you've got a recipe for insanity.

* ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'': [[ChainsawGood Chainsaw swords]], psychic spacemen, elves in space, orcs in space, undead robots, planet-eating bugs, three-hundred-metre-tall millennia-old walking battle cathedrals, soul-eating space stations and vehicles that travel faster because they're painted ''red'' ([[JustifiedTrope justified]]). The primary means of FTL is flying ''[[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace through Hell]]''. In ''40k,'' RuleOfCool ''is'' physics.

* PowerRangers: It varies from season to season, but within a fairly narrow range. It sets its own rules and follows them surprisingly well; its just that none of those rules ''make any sense whatsoever'' from a [[YouFailPhysicsForever physics]] standpoint, [[YouFailBiologyForever biological standpoint]], or otherwise, even if you count morphing itself as the One Big Lie break from reality. This one-exception-granted break explains a great deal, but [[HumanAliens not]] [[SquareCubeLaw enough]] [[MadeOfExplodium to place it]] [[CasualInterstellarTravel higher]] [[TimeyWimeyBall on the]] [[DeathIsCheap list]].

* ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': A lot of the AppliedPhlebotinum in this series involves branches of biology and engineering that neither exist in real life nor are ever likely to exist. "Metaphysical biology," for example -- [[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelion Doctor Kozo Fuyutsuki's]] specialty -- is kind of like genetics, only it involves human souls instead of genes.

* The ''{{Lensman}}'' novels: A classic [[PulpMagazine pulp]] SF series, which originated the trope of SpacePolice armed with [[GreenLanternRing incredibly powerful and flexible weapons]], and arguably, the whole SpaceOpera genre. Lensmen had intertialess drives, habitable gas giants (with surfaces you could land on)... it was pretty soft even when the first stories were published (in the 1930s), and since then, the [[ScienceMarchesOn ]]march of science has made hash out of most of its assumptions.

* ''[[StarTrekXI Star Trek]]'' (the 2009 film): One of the squishiest incarnations of [[StarTrek the franchise]] yet. Just a small sample of how soft it is: it contains (1) TimeTravel (2) by flying ''through'' a black hole. [[ThisIsSparta Black. Holes. Don't. Go. Anywhere.]] They're extremely dense objects in space with an immensely strong gravitational field, not some sort of actual hole you can go through. Had they used [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormholes]] -- as other Trek series occasionally have, clearly distinguishing them from black holes -- they might have had a stronger justification, but they ''very explicitly'' made it a black hole. They could have also gotten away with having a ship fly back in time by "warping" around a black hole (or star), which is [[MinovskyParticle an established in-universe rule]]. But instead, they literally went ''into'' the black hole. Which was just a ''hole''. In ''space''. And then they ''came out the other end'', in the past. SoYeah...
**Even the best theoretical justifications (involving, for example, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerr_metric#Kerr_black_holes_as_wormholes Kerr black holes]]) do not provide a way to exit a black hole before entering it. %%Check my interpretation, here - I'm not a physicist and I haven't seen the movie.%%
** There is, admittedly, a very limited amount of [[SpaceIsNoisy No Sound In Space]] -- from the audience's point of view, there is sound, but when shown from the point of view of the individual characters, there is no sound.

* ''SuzumiyaHaruhi''. The series has already enough problems with ScienceFictionVersusFantasy. Vaguely defined AppliedPhlebotinum doesn't help! At least the TimeTravel is clearly elaborated.
** Haruhi is entirely consistent; it's just that its "one big lie" is bigger than most.

* ''{{Freelancer}}'': SpaceIsAnOcean in its top splendor. The space battles [[OldSchoolDogfighting look like World War II air battles]], only without the limitation of gravity. And on top of that, the in-game scale is warped enough to have entire planets with a 200 meters atmosphere, and no more than 2 km of diameter. These "softnesses" can be considered AcceptableBreaksFromReality, though, because they actually make the game more playable.

* ''{{Farscape}}'': Generally let the needs of the plot come first while known science could take a flying leap for all it cared. Sort of {{lampshaded}} in "I Shrink Therefore I Am" when Sikozu starts pointing out all of the reasons being shrunk to one one-hundredth your normal size shouldn't work and Rygel tells her that he's learned to [[MST3KMantra accept the universe as it comes and not worry]] about what he thinks he knows.

* ''StarWars'': Magic is present, though it is [[TheForce not called magic]]. The Death Star runs on AppliedPhlebotinum and the RuleOfCool. [[LaserBlade Lightsabers]]. Dramatic SoundInSpace. OldSchoolDogfighting. Etc.
** The StarWarsExpandedUniverse ranges up and down the Scale DependingOnTheWriter. Relatively easy interstellar travel, the existence of the Force, and many and varied alien species are all constants, but otherwise it's largely up to the writer. Some books actually try to [[JustifyingEdit explain away]] some of the soft elements from the movies.

* ''RatchetAndClank'': Almost every entry in the series has an item which can turn enemies (including entirely non-organic robots) into a chicken/sheep/duck/pig/cow/penguin in seconds. SoYeah.

* ''RedDwarf'': Hard to place because, as a comedy, it naturally has many absurd elements, but the AbsentAliens, the fact that it takes time to go places, the way robots are treated and (in earlier series) soft light holograms make it seem a lot harder than most. The novels are harder.

* ''DoctorWho'': Varies, being harder and softer at certain points in its extremely [[LongRunners long run]]. The whole TimeyWimeyBall that's part of its premise tends to soften it.

* ''StarTrek DeepSpaceNine'': Although taking place in the same era as ''{{Voyager}}'' and ''TheNextGeneration'', there was much less technobabble and fantastic plots, with instead a greater focus on diplomacy and personal interaction. The honking great war that dominated the last few seasons probably helped harden things up too.

* ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Debatable though, many aspects of the show were pretty hard sci-fi when it was created, and only seem strange now [[ScienceMarchesOn after decades of science]]. Though the setting is stranger than other ''Star Trek'' shows, the ships and the technology are much more grounded.

''ImportedAlienPhlebotinum'': There are technologies that break the laws of physics, but we don't have any real idea how they work, or they are dependent on a resource that apparently appeases some higher power.

* The ''StargateVerse'': Considering the entire premise of the show is that ancient Earth religions were [[AncientAstronauts based off of]] alien snakes that take over your body or little grey men, that Atlantis is really a flying city in another galaxy, and that if you die, you can pop back again good as new after ascending/sleeping in a sarcophagus/being rebuilt by nanobots... it's surprising how hard they can get if they put their minds to it. ''[[StargateVerse StargateSG-1]]'' got softer as it progressed, letting mystical concepts like LifeEnergy, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascention]], EvolutionaryLevels and the [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve power of belief]] take center stage. It also loses points for having each show's OmnidisciplinaryScientist actually figure out how to mass produce much of the Phlebotinum. JustInTime for [[AmericaSavesTheDay the SGC to Save The Day]]. Over and over again.

*''{{Andromeda}}'': ''Tries'' to be harder than ''StarTrek''. Set farther in the future, and teleporters, interstellar radio (they use couriers to deliver mail), and holodecks (they use virtual reality instead) are all still impossible. Rather than hand phasers, they use small tracking bullets, or if they're desparate, plasma bursts, though they can only fire a few shots of those. Also, their main weapons are small missiles traveling near the speed of light that hit with their kinetic energy. Trouble is, a lot less stuff is actually explained, meaning you usually have to take their word for it or [[{{Fanon}} make something up yourself]] whenever they use technology.

*''CommandAndConquer Tiberium'' series: Uses only one form of real AppliedPhlebotinum, in the form of the titular Tiberium, but Tiberium itself has all manner of weird properties. By the third installment, though, the SufficientlyAdvancedAliens arrive with all manner of odd and physics-bending technology.

* HPLovecraft, by his own admission, preferred to "supplement reality rather than contradict it." His fiction takes a serious look at [[CosmicHorrorStory humanity's true place in the universe]], and is full of [[{{Eldritch Abomination}} Extradimensional beings]], StarfishAliens, and scarily plausible explanations; there's no use of AliensSpeakingEnglish or RubberForeheadAliens unless they're played for ''horror'' (since neither trope should naturally occur). Lovecraft stories also provide scientific-ish sounding rationales for [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent merfolk]], time travel, and the effects of witchcraft (it's really [[spoiler:math]]).

* The ''{{Uplift}}'' series, by David Brin: Hard science mixed with a lot of ImportedAlienPhlebotinum to make one of the 'hardest' of the [[SpaceOpera Space Operas]], a sub-genre that is usually very 'soft'.

* The ''{{Halo}}''; some of the technology used by the UNSC is upgraded real-world tech or technology based off predicted future developments, like railguns and [=AI=]s. The primary form of FTL are extremely dangerous and unpredictable "Slipspace" drives. Things get a lot weirder with time-and-space-bending [[{{Precursors}} Forerunner]] technology, which is made worse by the comparative weirdness of their tech and flatly refusing to explain how anything works.

* ''{{Macross}}'': Plenty of HumongousMecha, [[ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale No Sense Of Scale]] and ships that pack more than their own weight in missiles. On the other hand, space combat scenes are not particularly fanciful and there are realistic depictions of zero gravity environments, decompression and the like.

* ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'': No SpaceFriction, the Starfuries are a particularly sensible fighter designed for space, Artificial gravity is a prized technology beyond the means of humans and has a significant impact on the maneuverability of ships, whereas many others need to simulate gravity via rotating sections in the ships or space stations. Objects destroyed in space most decidedly do leave debris behind, at least as much as the CGI effects of the mid-90s could portray. FTL travel exists, but is but no means easy -- [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Hyperspace]] is decidedly different from normal space and hard to maneuver in, and only large ships can access it on their own power without Jumpgates. JMS loves all kinds of aliens, and they run the gamut from HumanAliens and RubberForeheadAliens (implied to be the result of genetic tampering rather than natural evolution) to full-blown StarfishAliens, all with their distinct customs and religions, and biology is treated fairly logically (there are two cases of HalfHumanHybrid occuring, and both are the result of one parent using AppliedPhlebotinum to make themselves compatible with the other species), diseases cannot cross species without distinct biological similarities and obtaining medical information and blood supplies of all the different species is an important point for the station's doctor. There are no TranslatorMicrobes either; learning other species' language is important at many points in the series and many aliens retain a distinct accent when speaking English. While Translator devices exist, they are also fairly realistic -- of visible size, tailor-made for a specific language rather than universal, and they translate in a flat, dull monotone. However, SoundInSpace, SufficientlyAdvancedAliens and PsychicPowers do exist. The biggest problem are probably that JMS [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale wouldn't know about scales if you hit him on the head with a lightyear long yardstick]], and the ExplosiveInstrumentation make any savvy viewer cringe. Some of this may be ExecutiveMeddling, though.

''MinovskyParticle'': The laws of physics are broken in a specifically declared way. Expect [[WallOfText hundred-page dissertations]] [[ShownTheirWork on fictional physics]] and [[MagicAIsMagicA consistent internal rules]].

* While not a sci-fi anime in the traditional sense, {{Fullmetal Alchemist}} can actually be considered surprisingly hard. [[FunctionalMagic Alchemy]], once a widely accepted science, is shown to not only follow [[MagicAIsMagicA consistent rules]], but actually maintain [[NoConservationOfEnergy conservation of energy]]. (In the movie while Ed was in the "real world" it was even mentioned how Newton’s laws disproved alchemy.) Finally, for the time period (if the time period is parallel with the other world) the technology is close to the same level albeit using alchemy instead of science (e.g. Model T -- looking cars, a "new" refrigeration truck, and so on...) And as for [[ArtificialLimbs automail]]? [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetz_von_Berlichingen Goetz von Berlichingen]] had an amazingly versatile prosthetic even without Functional Magic.

* LastExile: Like Fullmetal Alchemist, this odd duck is not a sci-fi anime in the traditional sense. However, this SteamPunk anime transposes Age Of Steam warfare with aircraft made possible by a single fictional element; a reactionless fuel known as Claudia.

* [[AnneMcCaffrey Anne McCaffrey's]] ''Talent'' series was, for the most part, a rather hard Sci-Fi. She supplied understandable ways in which [[PsychicPowers psi powers]] might manifest and how they worked. Since psi powers were primarily limited by how much energy a human being could create, being able to [[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord gestalt]] with an electrical generator to supplement one's psi makes sense. Also, screw using any sort of advanced technology for FTL travel or communications, let's use our psi's!! Although, the series did begin to head a bit more towards the "softer" side with the more aliens contacted (a grand total of two species), but she also did a fairly good job with them as well. One was [[BigCreepyCrawlies insectoid]], one was...[[HumanoidAliens vaguely humanoid]]. The energy requirements also tended to go out the window as each generation [[SoLastSeason got more powerful]] and had less and less reliance on generators.

* ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': The TechTree expands based on our current understanding of science, the quotes from the in-game characters always make sense, nonsensical {{Technobabble}} is almost nonexistent, and a lot of in-game scientific and technological advancements have already been predicted by several writers and scientists. Would be smack in the middle of "Unobtainium" if the PsychicPowers didn't look a bit too much like magic.

* ''MobileSuitGundam'': UC only; the later ones tended to add more fantastic flights of fancy, but the original only had PsychicPowers, {{Minovsky Particle}}s, and the basic unlikeliness of HumongousMecha (which it goes to great length to justify).
** Which series/universe is more "[[RealRobot real]]" than others has lead to a massive number of {{flame war}}s. For instance, ''GundamWing'' doesn't go as far to justify the use of HumongousMecha (largely using {{Unobtanium}} instead of {{Minovsky Particle}}s,), but has no PsychicPowers and is the only series which has AI-operated mecha.

* ''InfiniteRyvius'': While its SpaceIsAnOcean ([[JustifiedTrope quite literally, in fact]]), complete with {{Space Whale}}s, and contains Phlebotinum-based gravity-manipulating HumongousMecha fights, the series also features relatively realistic ArtificialGravity and remembers to [[AvertedTrope avert]] such things as InfiniteSupplies and SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale.

* AlastairReynolds' ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_in_Revelation_Space Revelation Space]]'' series: Has no FTL travel but does contain several superscience technologies, e.g. the Conjoiner near-lightspeed drive, space/time manipulating weaponry, messages from the future to the past (also the basis for FTL messaging). There ''is'' a form of FTL travel present, but it tends to [[spoiler:get one's civilization ''eaten'' by the Inhibitors; ''realistic'' {{Cosmic Horror}}s.]]

* The works of [[HBeamPiper H. Beam Piper]]: ''Uller Uprising'' opens with an essay explaining the silicon-based Ullerans. There are no death rays, just bullets. Nuclear power is used. There's no full-on explanation of FTL, but when he gives a detail (such as gadolinium being key, or it including time dilation), he doesn't contradict it. (The Paratime series, on the other hand, is quite soft, right down to giving ''reincarnation'' a free pass in one story; granted, that was a case of WriterOnBoard).

* ''AMiracleOfScience'': Everything that's used is explained via modern theory, with the exception of a few staples such as FTL and DeflectorShields -- which is only used by a sect of [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Sufficiently Advanced humans]]. Fairly impressive for a series based around [[MadScientist mad scientists]] running amok.

* JerryPournelle's ''CoDominium'' SharedUniverse: MilitaryScienceFiction hard enough to chip teeth. It has a PortalNetwork and a ForceField designed by Dan Alderson, a RealLife celebrated scientist at JPL. Two books co-authored with LarryNiven introduce a species of distinctly ''non-''HumanAliens, but they are sublimely [[ShownTheirWork well-constructed]] and everything else -- ''everything'', is real, proven or entirely plausible [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-term]] technology. Pournelle even counted on [[ScienceMarchesOn Science Marching On]], [[JustifiedTrope justifying]] it with MedievalStasis enforced by the namesake [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Obstructive Bureaucracy]].

* Both the ''Night's Dawn'' and ''Commonwealth'' books by Peter F. Hamilton. FTL is done by the use of ZTT (Zero Temporal Transit) drives, which work by a well-explained principle based on wormholes, and [[{{Brigadoon}} stasis technology]] based on the same effect takes the place of {{Human Popsicle}}s. In every other respect, very, very hard indeed, subverting the vast majority of the SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay tropes and just plain avoiding the rest; no dogfights in space, explosive decompression is only occasionally dealt with, and is done so with great accuracy, and space is far more like...well, space, than it is [[{{SpaceIsAnOcean}} like an ocean]].

* The ''HonorHarrington'' book series: SpaceIsAnOcean, but the series demonstrates admirable internal consistency, relies on essentially only one piece of "new" technology (gravity control methods), mostly merely extending other pieces of current technology (medical science, nuclear fusion containment, lasers). Additionally, space combat is very three-dimensional and ship-to-ship engagements are often fought at fractional light-second distances (contrast the traditional ''StarTrek'' Starship Standoff).

* ''MassEffect'': Its only fictional element is perhaps the TropeCodifier for the MinovskyParticle: Element Zero, a form of Unobtainium which defines every use of sci-fi technology. Quite realistically, something as important as eezo and the mass effect fields it generates fundamentally influences every aspect of society, meaning KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter even with man-portable DeflectorShields, and people born with the stuff in their systems can [[MindOverMatter manipulate gravity]]. The programmers ''definitely'' [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale have a great Sense Of Scale]], as you traverse the galaxy via the PortalNetwork even with your mass effect drive. [[AliensSpeakingEnglish All the aliens speak English]] because of [[EverythingIsOnline ubiquitous computers and translation software.]] The RubberForeheadAliens are in fact the ''most'' alien, with truly BizarreAlienBiology. '''Everything''' else in the setting reflects realistic science, including accurate geography, geology, astrology, physics, alien biology, computing, and military tactics and strategy. Think of it as {{Planetes}} with a squishy eezo center, like a Everlasting Gobstopper.

* VernorVinge's ''The Peace War'', ''The Ungoverned'' and ''Marooned in Realtime'': Mostly explore the consequences of a single fictional technology: [[spoiler: [[{{Brigadoon}} time-stopping stasis bubbles]].]]

* Larry Niven's ''KnownSpace'' stories: No HumanAliens here! Er... with [[AncientAstronauts one exception]], and the humans tend to simply do ''very unlikely'' things. A variety of "interesting" planets are explained by way of a subtle bug in the first generation of colony seedships: Instead of seeking a habitable ''planet'', they settled for a habitable ''point'' (and didn't examine that too thoroughly). Thus, one colony is on a plateau of habitable land in the upper atmosphere, above a Venusian miasma, while another is swept by hurricane-force winds for most of its year (the probe arrived in the calm season). The FTL, ArtificialGravity, PsychicPowers, [[TimeStandsStill stasis fields]] and other Wondertech keep this from being rock-hard scifi, but the astronomy is very solid, and much of the supertech is purchased from SufficientlyAdvancedAliens. Niven gets uber bonus points for having obsessively [[ShownTheirWork Shown His Work]], and occasionally retconning fan-discovered errors. ("The Ringworld is unstable!")

* ''SchlockMercenary'' is almost entirely plausible scientifically, although little of the theory appears in the work. Its placement is primarily due to limiting its AppliedPhlebotinum to gravity manipulation(but not ''generation'' -- ships are built around spheres of neutronium as sources of gravity to manipulate), taking it for granted that the process is as well developed as electronics, and playing the result to its natural conclusions; ubiquitous {{flight}}, DeflectorShields, [[OurWormholesAreDifferent traversable wormholes]](one example which [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] a TimeTravel storyline), and [[TeleportersAndTransporters quantum teleportation]]. Some find the easy nanotechnology a bit of a stretch.

* ''EveOnline'': FTL speeds are possible, but only applicable within a single solar system. As far as players are concerned, bridging the massive space that separates solar systems requires advanced stargate technology or highly costly specialized equipment that costs even more to use because of fuel limitations. The latter method requires a ship or particular structure already be in the system, while the stargate network was built by absolutely massive ships traveling between systems at roughly .3''c''. Weapons are fairly realistic, employing relatively justifiable laser technology, magnetic railcannons, particle weapons, missiles, [[AttackDrone drones]] and even good old fashioned bang-you're-dead projectile weaponry. The universe is ridiculously huge, much like actual space, with over 7000 unique solar systems, though it falls short of the following category because, as New Eden's space is based on fluid physics and has the viscosity of firm gelatin, [[SpaceFriction ships have a "Top speed" and decelerate once the engines turn off]]. [[AllThereInTheManual The fluff states that this is an effect of the warp drive and that a ship without one would travel through space realistically, but be limited to sublight speeds within a system]].

* BattlestarGalactica: The 2003 series, despite taking place in another [[ALongTimeAGoInAGalaxyFarFarAway solar system]], had mostly real-world technology as far as the humans were concerned with the exception of FTL technology. However, Cylon Resurrection technology involved downloading a Cylon's memories upon their death and frequently beaming them across vast distances of space. The process was usually handled pretty consistently but was never explained in detail as to how it is possible.

''FTLTravel'': The ''only'' intentional departure from the laws of reality is that we've finally outsmarted Einstein, or just made him look the other way while we slip by -- at the very least to [[SubspaceAnsible send messages]]. Everything else will be justifiable under known scientific principles.

* ''[[StarshipOperators Starship Operators]]'' has FTL travel (called ''warp drive'', no less) and [[spoiler:inertial dampeners]] but is otherwise very hard.

* [[CJCherryh C.J.Cherryh's]] ''HellBurner'' books. FTL travel does exist, but usually happens to someone else. The peculiar nature of near-light-speed combat is very seriously considered, as are the dangers of space, the nature of large-scale construction projects, and the proper procedures for pressure suit maintenance.

*''{{Freefall}}'': Tends to limit itself to 'theoretically possible but difficult' technologies, such as [[PettingZooPeople genetically enhanced sapient animals]], {{terraform}}ing, AI and [[HumanPopsicle cryogenics]]. Even artificial gravity is absent (as the name suggests), and though the Dangerous and Very Expensive([[FunWithAcronyms D.A.V.E.]]) Drive enables interstellar voyages measured in ''days'', it is explicitly ''not'' [[CasualInterstellarTravel Casual]] -- Planet Jean was colonized by slower-than-light ships carrying {{Human Popsicle}}s.

* ''{{Contact}}'' by Carl Sagan: Scientists spend the first third of the book struggling to raise money for the SETI program amid sponsoral skepticism. Once they finally find an alien transmission, they spend the second third deciphering the transmission, considering all the possibilities involved, and thoroughly applying the scientific method, all the while showing the social impact of knowing that we're not alone. It would rank even lower in the list if the last third was not about building borderline ImportedAlienPhlebotinum, but it could be softer, because the setting [[MagicAIsMagicA and the clearly established rules]] ''actually make the alien device look rather hard''.

* ''{{Alien}}'' and its sequels. Spaceships have slow FTL travel, during which the crew lie in cryogenic sleep for months or even years. The many discovered planets go by numbers, but almost none of them are naturally inhabitable.

* ''ThreeWorldsCollide'' has the physics associated with the "Alderson starlines" edging it up the scale, but is otherwise fairly realistic in the physics department.

* ''Blue Planet'': A semi-hard SF RPG. FTL travel only through wormholes. The biotechnology is very soft in places, and gilled mammals have certain thermodynamic issues.

* Robert L. Forward's ''Timemaster'': probably one of the few hard science fiction stories you'll ever encounter that has TimeTravel at the core of the plot. The only iffy element is a substance with a negative rest mass: although such a material has never been observed, several mainstream theories of physics predict its existence.

* UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Hainish Cycle'' novels: There is no FTL travel, although there is FTL communication using the [[SubspaceAnsible Ansible]]. Travel between stars involves nearly-as-fast-as-light ships, and comes with "realistic" time dilation effects. Very little super-technology is discussed beyond this, except for some hints about genetically engineered species. Nearly -- human aliens appear, but a major plot point [[spoiler:is that they all share a common ancestor with us; so essentially, they are ''literally human'' aliens.]] On the other hand, the novels tend to focus on people and societies, so relatively little space is dedicated to describing how technology actually works. Telepathy also makes an occasional appearance, though it is discarded in later novels (Le Guin wrote that essentially, she did away with it because ScienceMarchesOn -- telepathy seemed more plausible when she was writing the earlier works).

''No FTL'': Mostly justifiable under known scientific principles, including any (necessarily sub-lightspeed) space travel, limited mostly to {{Interplanetary Voyage}}s, with anything greater being a massive undertaking-- CasualInterstellarTravel is an impossibility. Even if some aspects are slightly softer than in a story with FTL, the physicists will forgive it in exchange for appeasing their Einstein-worship. (Ken Burnside has a [[http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3al.html particularly scathing rant]] to that effect.) Home of the GenerationShip.

* ''{{Firefly}}'': No sound in space (except for inside the ion cloud in TheMovie, where the sound has a medium to travel through) and no aliens, and a few other things that seem like the writers [[ShownTheirWork actually did do the research]] (such as how nasty stomach wounds are), but there are some things, such as {{terraform}}ing, temporary [[HumanPopsicle cryonics]], ArtificialGravity and space ships that may or may not be viable 500 years from now -- though ''all'' of them seem to have problems. Terraformed worlds all have "quirks" such as unique diseases that crop up or "black rock" failures, cryonics can cause a bit of a shock if you come out of it too quickly, spaceships break down easily, etc. The most improbable feature of the world is probably River's apparent [[PsychicPowers telepathy]], and even the characters [[LampshadeHanging aren't sure]] [[GenreSavvy they believe it.]] The ships also move [[TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot at the speed of plot]], with Whedon waffling back and forth as to whether or not they can travel faster than the speed of light -- it's eventually revealed that it's all in one (fairly large) solar system, so given that ships travel [[InterplanetaryVoyage between planets]] in a timeframe of days or weeks, travel is definitely subluminal, if still fairly fast. The ships that left Earth took a "generation" at least to get to the system, but that was presumably generations before the story takes place.
** It was. [[AllThereInTheManual Extra materials]] note that even just the completion of terraforming on most of the non-Core worlds was completed in 2435 (the series/movie is set in 2517 and 2518), and before that was the arrival of humans at the system and colonisation of major Core worlds such as Sihnon, Londinium and Osiris, with those worlds being overpopulated by 2435.

*''{{Dollhouse}}''. The core speculation is that people are purged of their identities and imprinted with others - the rules are pretty consistent, and space travel doesn't enter into it at any point, but the internal science is still covered with loads of TechnoBabble.

* ''CowboyBebop'': Has no SpaceFriction ([[RuleOfCool except during dog fights]]), ArtificialGravity, travel outside this solar systems, and no FTLTravel. The least realistic thing is the PortalNetwork, which was only included to keep travel time between planets down -- but is explicitly ''not'' faster than light. It takes place in an AlternateHistory where we had a Space Age ''instead'' of a ColdWar, and developed efficient spaceplanes and {{Terraform}}ing by the 2070s (and those things on Mars that look like DeflectorShields? ''Air curtains.''). Much like ''Firefly'' above, a more improbable element is that they could terraform most planets and moons of a solar system to habitability.

* ''MaxHeadroom'': Strongly related to its TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture premise, though still spiced with the occasional TV commercial that makes people's brains explode. Which may be a comedic exaggeration of a ReverseFunnyAneurysm; certain TV shows have been known to trigger grand mal seizures.

* The works of GregEgan: Tend to include in-depth discussions of physics, maths, computer science and biochemistry in a non-TechnoBabble way, and many start from the assumption that, given time, modern science will go the way of Newtonian Physics. He gets bonus points by never using this as a cheap excuse for FTL travel.

* CharlesStross's ''Accelerando'' series: An Einsteinian universe without FTL but with traversable slower-than-light [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wormhole wormholes]], with some handwaving of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_transfer uploading]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computronium computronium]]. The characters speculate about distant aliens performing a ''timing channel attack on the computational ultrastructure of space-time itself'', and the eventually-weakly-godlike-robot-cat claims to have a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_machine Halting Oracle]], but that might be intimidation.

''{{Unobtainium}}'': Contains only theoretical yet plausible elements. NO FTL in any way, shape or form.

* ''StellviaOfTheUniverse'' never clearly contradicts anything we know to be science fact, and goes out of its way to show such elements as journeys between Foundations within and around the solar system taking several months. The StarfishAliens being able to [[spoiler: plant a spy among the humans]] does kind of hiccup the Starfishness of the Aliens, the amount of energy the lasers can fire is astronomical, and the [[spoiler: Fracture]] is based on a somewhat questionable physical model, but the writers nonetheless have a pattern of [[ShownTheirWork Showing Their Work]].

* Robert L. Forward's ''Rocheworld'' setting was quite hard (it should be, he's a physicist). The only major implausibilities in the first book are alien life and a life-prolonging drug. Points are lost to {{Sequelitis}}; In the third and later books, the science softens to mush, including finding native ''coffee beans'' on the moon of a gas giant circling a red dwarf.

* Ben Bova's ''Grand Tour'' novels: Perfectly credible spaceflight-within-the-Solar-System stories. The only Phlebotinum is [[{{Nanomachines}} nanotechnology]], which is at least theoretically possible. Some extraterrestrial life features, but it is plausibly primitive.

* Allen Steele's ''Near Space'' series. Spaceflight-within-the-Solar-System stories with no Phlebotinum at all, except in the farthest-future setting, ''A King of Infinite Space,'' which features reversible cryosuspension and a class of humans genetically engineered to function in space.

* ''CenturyCity'': The science tried to be hard. The ''plots'', on the other hand...

* ''{{Gattaca}}'': The [[GattacaBabies gamete selection technology]] portrayed in the movie is a reasonable extrapolation from technology that already exists; indeed, the furthest-out thing in the film is a manned expedition to Titan (and given an entire world population of geniuses, it's not much of a stretch except for the fact [[TemptingFate they don't wear spacesuits or seatbelts]]).

* VernorVinge's ''Rainbows End'': Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture. The most speculative parts concern the existence of [[BrownNote certain vulnerabilities in the human brain against information-based attacks]].

* ''Strange Days'': A film with one innovation ("playback" of memories via portable superconducting quantum interference devices) and the consequences thereof.

* ''{{Patlabor}}'': What [[HumongousMecha giant, humanoid robots]] would be like in the ''real'' world. All units are awkward to pilot and their abilities are extremely limited. Police-issue labors can brawl with rogue worker mecha but will get utterly trashed by a simple gatling gun. Military labors are few and far between, and common anti-tank weapons are quite effective against them. Pilots need months of training and software assistance to perform well, and so on.

* The works of the dearly departed MichaelCrichton. He frequently [[ShownTheirWork showed his work]] about plausible technology as it becomes workable and just before ItGotWorse; usually because arrogant humans insist on TemptingFate. Once he acquired a degree of ProtectionFromEditors, he took advantage of that to move into more [[FlameWar controversial]] [[StrawmanPolitical territory]].
** The novel ''StateOfFear'' was arguably the low point of his career in terms of hardness, as it attempted to [[DanBrowned pass off a great deal of]] [[DidNotDoTheResearch debunked, misleading,]] [[CriticalResearchFailure and generally bad science]] as fact [[AuthorOnBoard in order to claim that global warming was a hoax.]] The softer elements range from honest cases of DidNotDoTheResearch, like getting the mechanics of hurricane formation completely backwards, to arguments about natural forcings that have been [[http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/gas/index.php refuted]] by [[http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/463/2086/2447 research]] conducted both [[CriticalResearchFailure before]] and [[ScienceMarchesOn after]] the book was published. See the book's page for more.
** The films even less so, primarily due to ExecutiveMeddling.

* The works of Thomas Pynchon. Mr Pynchon studied engineering physics in the '50s, and studied WWII in the '60s, and it shows.
** There is, however, an unexplained oddity that calls Causality Itself at the core of ''[=~Gravity's Rainbow~=]''.

* ''{{GURPS}} Transhuman Space'': So far possibly the hardest SF RPG released, no FTL whatsoever. Biotech is harder than ''Blue Planet'', but still somewhat soft in places. The AI (and especially "uploading") are speculative at best.


* The GhostInTheShell franchise -- particularly the first manga. ShirowMasamune goes to [[ShownTheirWork great lengths]] to make his TechnologyPorn look as realistic as possible - for example, Project 2501 is [[spoiler:a learning algorithm for gaming prediction pools]]. Most of the problems this troper sees with it are due to Science Marches On, or (more frequently) political changes unrelated to the technology. The author is apparently a retired science teacher.
** Man-Machine Interface adds PsychicPowers to Shirow's PostCyberPunk universe. His opinion is that Science will March On, validating theories previously discarded, so [[YourMileageMayVary your mileage may very well vary]]:
--->'''Masamune Shirow''': ''It's easy to shrug off psychic phenomena as being "[[HowUnscientific unscientific]]", but assuming the person experiencing them isn't totally faking it, it's probably more scientific to consider such experiences in psychological or neuro-physiological terms. They could, for example, be considered the result of "[[BrownNote naturally-occurring magnetic or electrical phenomena that affect the brain]]," or they could be analyzes as a type of "mass hypnosis," etc. It's unscientific to laugh off poorly understood phenomena instead of trying to analyze them.''

* NealStephenson's ''{{Cryptonomicon}}'' and ''TheBaroqueCycle''. They'd be straight-up historical fiction if not for [[{{Unobtanium}} the Solomonic Gold]].

''IWantMyJetpack'': Real Life plus [[InterplanetaryVoyage Space Travel]]. The only objective way to grade these is by their age: newer generally means harder. {{Zeerust}} hits '''hard''' here - one can always tell when [[ScienceMarchesOn Science]] and/or TechMarchesOn. Arguments as to ''why'' we do not have space travel do not belong on this wiki, but '''''EVERYONE''''' agrees that its lack is part of the reason [[YouSuck We Suck]].

* The movie ''Destination Moon''; written by RobertAHeinlein with assistance from that worthy's [[{{Nakama}} many, many friends]] [[BackedByThePentagon in the United States Armed Forces]].

* The ''{{Tintin}}'' stories ''Destination Moon'' and ''Explorers on the Moon''. The print medium enables Hergé to better display the colossal engineering needed to develop interplanetary spaceflight. Though [[ScienceMarchesOn science has marched on]] considerably since it was written, at the time it was practically a student's primer on both nuclear energy and spaceflight.

* ''[[{{ptitleh3elkyxdypyw}} 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'': Unusually among films and TV series with space travel, the vacuum of space [[SpaceIsNoisy is actually silent]]. Oddly enough, this is one of the few cases where the book is softer than the movie, due to going further into the details. The iconic monolith is ill-defined, but never really breaks any physical laws. Unscientific elements tend to be part of a MindScrew.
** One difference between the film and novel is that the novel explicitly contains an instance of [[spoiler: FasterThanLightTravel]], while the equivalent point in the movie is kept vague. The events shown could instead be interpreted as a metaphorical, psychological journey, for instance - nothing is shown or stated to make it clear one way or the other. Since the book and film were created at the same time and differ on a number of other points, the book's more explicit explanation need not take priority. Clarke's later sequels to the 2001 novel also eventually [[RetCon ret conned]] the [[spoiler: FTL travel]] away.
** In the sequel novel (''2010: Odyssey Two'') and movie (''[[{{Main.Ptitledixtv2ac}} 2010: The Year We Make Contact]]''), Jupiter [[spoiler: gets turned into a mini-sun]]. When one of the characters starts to complain about the scientific problems with this, another one tells them to shut up; obviously it ''can'' happen because it ''is'' happening, and the scientists will have plenty of time to think up an explanation for it later.

* ''StarCops'': Very hard in its late '80s way.

*''SpaceOdysseyVoyageToThePlanets'': Set an indeterminate number of decades in the future, this docufiction tells the story of a manned mission to Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto. Contains some (relatively mild) examples of SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay, though. Will most likely be highly vulnerable to ScienceMarchesOn in the near future.

* ''{{Planetes}}'': Commercial spaceflight less than a century in the future and almost completely limited to the Earth Sphere itself. Detailed orbital mechanics, realistic effects of space on health, dependency theory, diapers under spacesuits, and invisible laser beams. '''''INVISIBLE LASER BEAMS.''''' Even the gratuitous InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace is justified as mere thematic [[CloseupOnHead close-ups on the characters' faces]] -- ''with their faceplates down.'' Its premise -- the collection of space garbage to prevent multimillion-dollar spacecraft from being [[OneHitKill scrapped]] by ''[[CherryTapping screws]]'' -- technically a real problem but economically unfeasible, but this is actually ''a major plot point'' -- though the job is essential to commercial space travel, the fact that nobody can find a way to make money off it but companies are required to do it by government regulation means that it's done by ''[[{{Salaryman}} office drones]]'' with '''[[UsedFuture gear older than they are.]]'''

* ''MoonlightMile'': ''Planetes'' with raunchy sex. Set in a present day where Helium 3 fusion has become viable; the Space Race has begun anew. WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical?

* ''RocketGirls'': ''MoonlightMile'' '''without''' raunchy sex. The first private company to conduct satellite maintenance has hit a snag - their rocket is underpowered and their astronaut has freaked out. Solution? Find new astronauts... ''lighter'' astronauts... The only improbable thing is getting ''high school girls'' to be astronauts. And fully functional [[LatexSpaceSuit skintight spacesuits]], though these ones will shortly replace those big bulky spacesuits from nowadays.

* ''{{Film/Moon}}'': Minus the SpaceIsNoisy and [[spoiler: cloning]] it was so spot on, NASA personnel who screen tested the film just to see how close they got it were pretty impressed. The best explaination is when one of them asked the Director, "Why does the base look like a bunker?", he replied that he figured that it would just be easier (and cheaper) to transpose stuff that already existed onto the moon -- and then another in the group stated that she's in fact working on just that.

* ''ShatteredHorizon'': An FPS set in space, featuring true zero-G manuevering and combat, inertia, a story that is completely feasible given the timeline (man colonises and mines the moon around 2040) and no sound- while there are battle noises, these are generated by the suit to help with situational awareness. Should the suit be powered down, all you hear is your heartbeat.

*''TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'': Minus Mike itself, pretty much everything is already around, or could easily be put together in the next half-century (the book is set in 2075-2076). The only fly in jam here is that we had a moonbase for a minimum of thousands by the 90s.

''NextSundayAD'': ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Just like now, but some interesting techologies are more effective and/or more accessible. This may or may not be a good thing.

* ''AceCombat'': Planes are almost all realistic. Of the fictional planes featured, two late 20th century/early 21st century ones (namely the X-02 Wyvern and ADF-01F Falken) have been modeled in X-Plane and found to successfully fly under modern aerodynamics knowledge limits, while the rest generally are found a while down the road. You have some funky stuff like "burst" missiles, cluster air-to-air missiles, fighter-scale and superweapon-scale lasers and neural synapse flight-control systems, but most of these have some real-life basis and it's not too great a stretch to think that some could be created IRL with enough funding and political will. There are some key implausibilities like being able to shake off missiles without using countermeasures... or the HyperspaceArsenal... or the downplaying of BVR combat... but these fall under RuleOfFun - the games would be far less playable without those features.
** I understand that the background setting is very realistic, but the arcade game style really stretches to what can be "hard". I accept that a lot of the gameplay isn't played as canon for it to be realistic, but at a point you have to stop. The fact that wars are literally determined by one plane or squadron is shown as what really happens in the history of it's world, but these would be incredible odds. You can only stretch it so far without breaking past reality by having two planes go up against 8 extremely and highly trained pilots with motivations to match with 4 in stealth F-23 level planes then somehow even have the fuel to make it to the next stage which has even more obstacles that require missiles.... This is just the tip too... I consider this much higher in the ladder to softness.

* ''DennouCoil'': {{Cyberspace}} via [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual Goggles That Do Something Unusual]]. As with 2001, the more unscientific elements are part of a MindScrew.

* ''TwentyFour'': A cell phone like Jack Bauer's would cost several grand, but it's not at all impossible. The ''plots'' on the other hand are another story. Points are lost to SyphonFilter-like viruses and nuclear meltdown-inducing laptops.

* ''ReGenesis'': Set in the present, ReGenesis uses bleeding edge biology for its science fiction aspects. Sometimes it's less science-fictiony than CSI.

* ''RealLife'': A SharedUniverse which spawned its own genre, known as "The {{Documentary}}". RealLife has spawned much [[{{Media}} imitation]], and comes close to the hardest end of the scale, but RealityIsUnrealistic.

'''Hardest'''
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