History Main / MentalSpaceTravel

May be a form of TwinMaker. Could be called a "Harder" form of {{Teleportation}}. PsychicTeleportation is when both mind and body are moved by psychic power. Contrast MentalTimeTravel. Compare SleeperStarship.

May be a form of TwinMaker. Could be called a "Harder" form of {{Teleportation}}. Contrast MentalTimeTravel. Compare SleeperStarship.

* In "The Last Martian" by Crearor/FredricBrown (dramatized on ''Radio/XMinusOne'') the titular character claims he escaped from a hospital on Mars to find the rest of his people all lying dead in the streets. Eventually he came to a copper column in the middle of a colloseum and touched it, then found himself in the body of a factory worker in New York. [[spoiler: It turned out the others had abandoned their bodies on Mars and taken over humans to escape a plague. He was left behind because he was moronic by Martian standards - that is, as smart as an average human.]]

* Felix Gilman's ''The Revolutions'' combines this trope with 19th century occultism, such that a group of magicians performs a ritual to astrally project themselves to Mars -- the ''true'' Mars, of which the red, barren dustball orbiting the Sun is only a reflection in our terrestrial plane of existence. They know it's possible because one of their test runs accidentally brought a living Martian back with them when they returned to their bodies. [[spoiler:Mars is also a red, barren dustball in its native plane, having been rendered uninhabitable by its own magicians when ''their'' experiments into astral projection brought back an EldritchAbomination from the outermost Solar System, which taught them TheDarkArts and drove them mad with power.]]

* Felix Gilman's ''The Revolutions'' combines this trope with 19th century occultism, such that a group of magicians performs a ritual to astrally project themselves to Mars -- the ''true'' Mars, of which the red, barren dustball orbiting the Sun is only a reflection in our terrestrial plane of existence. They know it's possible because one of their test runs accidentally brought a living Martian back with them when they returned to their bodies. [[spoiler:Mars is also a red, barren dustball in its native plane, having been rendered uninhabitable by its own magicians when they did the same thing... only what they brought back was an EldritchAbomination from the outermost Solar System, which taught them TheDarkArts and drove them mad with power.]]

The use of {{Telepathy}} to launch one's soul across the universe as a method of space travel.

* In ''Series/DarkMatter'' the "Transfer Transit" corporation scans the client, puts them in stasis, and grows a clone with their memories on the "destination" planet. The clone dies after three days or when it reports in for "recycling", in which case its memories are transmitted back to the original. But if the clone is killed (like from a gunshot) without reclamation the original simply wakes up not knowing what happened to the clone.

* ''Series/DarkMatter'' features this in a couple of episodes. Those who use it cannot remember their actions while in the clone body.

* In the ''WebVideo/PlumbingTheDeathStar'' episode about "What Would Be the Ultimate Crime Causing Power?", the only method the Boys can come up with to stop a villain with a body-swapping DeathActivatedSuperpower is to launch him into space. The only problem is that unless he meets some alien life, the villain will eventually die and have his body launching into an astronaut or some poor businessman working at a skyscraper.

* In "The Last Martian" (dramatized on ''Radio/XMinusOne'') the titular character claims he escaped from a hospital on Mars to find the rest of his people all lying dead in the streets. Eventually he came to a copper column in the middle of a colloseum and touched it, then found himself in the body of a factory worker in New York. [[spoiler: It turned out the others had abandoned their bodies on Mars and taken over humans to escape a plague. He was left behind because he was mentally unstable.]]

!Examples

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'' an Ancient communication device allowed two people who touched special "stones" and placed them in the device to transfer their minds to the bodies of other people who had touched similar stones, even in another galaxy. It's not entirely clear what it was supposed to do when working properly as it was rarely used under ideal conditions.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'': The Ancient communication device reappears here as the main means the ''Destiny'' crew have of contacting Earth. The SGC has personnel on standby in case anyone tries to use the device, which could lead to hijinks every now and then.

[[AC:Music]]
* Music/TheMoodyBlues cover this possibility in their 1968 song, ''Thinking is The Best Way To Travel''

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[[AC:Tabletop Games]]

* ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' has [=DigiTrans=], where the client has extensive body and brain scans taken and transmitted to the destination, and then is euthanized just as their clone begins growth. It costs ten times as much as physical interplanetary travel, but the process is complete in 14 hours as opposed to 2-3 weeks. Oh, and BrainUploading for non-travel reasons costs 2.5x more, but has the option of transfer to different body types instead of an exact copy.

[[AC:Film]]
* ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': Loki uses the power of his magical staff to project his consciousness across light-years of space to the distant lair of the Chitauri army. Despite physically being on a different planet, Loki is still scared enough of his alien masters to flinch when they "approach" him.
* ''Film/TheLastJedi'': a recurring component in the movie is a "Force Bond" between [[spoiler:Rey and Kylo Ren]] that allows them to appear before each other and talk despite being in entirely different parts of the galaxy.

* In ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Loki uses the power of his magical staff to project his consciousness across light-years of space to the distant lair of the Chitauri army. Despite physically being on a different planet, Loki is still scared enough of his alien masters to flinch when they "approach" him.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Loki uses the power of his magical staff to project his consciousness across light-years of space to the distant lair of the Chitauri army. Despite physically being on a different planet, Loki is still scared enough of his alien masters to flinch when they "approach" him.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', Loki uses the power of his magical staff to project his consciousness across light-years of space to the distant lair Chitauri army. Despite physically being miles away, Loki is still scared enough of his alien masters to flinch when they "approach" him.

The use of {{Telepathy}} to launch one's soul through space and into the body of someone far away as a method of space travel.

[[AC: Literature]]

[[AC: Live Action TV]]

[[AC: Music]]

[[AC: Tabletop Games]]

* ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' has [=DigiTrans=], where the client has extensive body and brain scans taken and transmitted to the destination, and then is euthanized just as their clone begins growth. It costs ten times as much as physical interplanetary travel, but the process is complete in 14 hours as opposed to 2-3 weeks. Oh, and BrainUploading for non-travel reasons costs 2.5x more, but has the option of transfer to different body types instead of an exact copy.

May be a form of TwinMaker. Could be called a "Harder" form of a {{Teleporter}}. Contrast MentalTimeTravel. Compare SleeperStarship.

May be a form of TwinMaker. Could be called a "Harder" form of a {{Teleporter}}. Contrast MentalTimeTravel. Compare SleeperStarship

May be a form of TwinMaker. Could be called a "Harder" form of a {{Teleporter}}. Contrast MentalTimeTravel.

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheShadowOutOfTime'' the Great Race of Yith escaped their original homeworld's destruction by using their technology to swap bodies with a species that inhabited Earth millions of years ago. The same technology also allows MentalTimeTravel, which they use to study Earth's future inhabitants as possible next hosts, they choose an insectoid species that comes after humanity.