History Main / SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1622817143080243000 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

[[quoteright:346:[[http://rmirandinha.deviantart.com/art/DM-Astral-Projection-Collab-128866750 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/planets_stars_asteroids_140_8170.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:346: Because... you know... [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall space is grape-flavored]].]]

->''"Captain, we've been attacked by some sort of force ray! Gah! Gyah! Space air is flooding in!"\\
"Right. Goggles on!"''
-->-- ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons The Simpsons]]'', ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Planet from Outer Space]]''

%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.

Thanks largely to ScienceFiction, space is probably one of the most [[HollywoodScience inaccurately portrayed]] things in modern media, to the extent that complete falsehoods are [[TheCoconutEffect widely accepted]] as fact. Or hey, maybe it's just that the work is rather out of date and we're finding out new things all the time.

This is a very specific kind of research failure, which may have been partially justified in earlier media as [[ScienceMarchesOn there hadn't been much research on the subject yet]]. Modern portrayals of space, however, still haven't changed much from the [[TheAsteroidThicket rock-filled]], [[SpaceIsNoisy noisy]] place which will make an unprotected human instantly [[ExplosiveDecompression explode]] into [[SpaceIsCold clouds of ice]].

Some of this is due to a lack of research or just lack of interest. But most of the modern misrepresentations can be put down to the RuleOfCool (the idea that [[SpaceIsNoisy things with sound]] are cooler, or at least [[NothingIsScarier not as scary]], as [[{{Film.Alien}} a famous tagline]] pointed out, as things without), [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality artistic license]], or simply the belief that audiences [[TheCoconutEffect wouldn't accept it any other way]].

Subtrope of ArtisticLicensePhysics. See also TheCoconutEffect and MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness.

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!!Specific kinds of Space Does Not Work That Way include:
[[index]]

* TwoDSpace: Spacecraft fail to recognize a third axis of movement.
* ArbitraryMaximumRange: When projectiles mysteriously cease to exist upon reaching a certain distance.
* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Astronomical bodies are portrayed incorrectly.
* AsteroidThicket: Asteroid belts in fiction are ''much'' denser than in real life.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: In fiction, oxygen tanks are completely optional in space.
* ContinuousDecompression: After a hole is opened in a space ship's outer structure, it has about the same effects as a nearby tornado.
* ConvenientlyClosePlanet: In space, your destination is far closer and more convenient to reach than in reality.
* EverythingInSpaceIsAGalaxy: Writers using the term "galaxy" incorrectly to refer to things that only have one (or a handful) of stars and several planets or that are not particularly distant.
* ExplosionsInSpace: Explosions in space are just like the ones on Earth.
* ExplosiveDecompression: A sudden shift in pressure makes your ''everything'' explode.
* FasterThanLightTravel: Spaceships that can travel faster than light.
* FishbowlHelmet: Astronauts wear helmets that are clear all around.
* FlamingMeteor: Meteors depicted as being fiery boulders.
* FrictionlessReentry: Objects enter the atmosphere without burning up.
* GravitySucks: Turn off the engines and you fall straight down, regardless of lateral velocity.
* InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace: Spacesuits always have transparent visors and sometimes even lights to highlight the face of the astronaut in fiction.
* LatexSpaceSuit: In the future, people will wear [[{{Fanservice}} fanservicable]] spacesuits.
* OldSchoolDogfight: Air and spacecraft behaving like pre-Cold War planes in situations where they shouldn't.
* PlanarShockwave: Explosions in space tend to spread out in only two dimensions.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Sci-Fi writers make measurements much more different than they realistically would be.
* SpaceClouds: Fictional nebulae behave like clouds.
* SpaceFriction: Turning your engines off in space inexplicably causes you to slow to a stop.
* SpaceIsAir: Spaceships are just airplanes in space.
* SpaceIsCold: In fiction, you'll probably freeze to death with unprotected exposure to outer space.
* SpaceIsMagic: Space is [[ExaggeratedTrope literally magical]].
* SpaceIsNoisy: According to fiction, sound is possible in the vacuum of space.
* SpaceIsAnOcean: Space travel is treated like sailing an ocean.
* SpaceMask: An oxygen mask is all it takes to protect you from decompression.
* SpaceZone: Space levels in video games often have wonky physics.
* SpySatellites: Spy satellites used unrealistically in fiction compared to RealLife.
* StealthInSpace: How characters in space go undetected.
* StreamingStars: Stars are seen streaking by to emphasize how fast a spaceship is going.
* UniversalUniverseTime: The rest of the universe follows Earth's time system.
* UnrealisticBlackHole: A black hole with strange properties, often behaving like a vacuum cleaner.
[[/index]]
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* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Astronomical bodies are portrayed wrong.