History Main / SpaceIsAir

The way airplanes work is dependent on the fact that they're travelling through the atmosphere. Wings provide lift, flaps and rudders can reorient the plane by redirecting airflow, and their engines must be on constantly in order to counteract the effects of friction and gravity — wings generate lift only when there's airflow across them, so a certain minimum airspeed is absolutely necessary for them to work. Because space is a vacuum, none of these things apply to spaceships -- wings and flaps are useless, and the engine only needs to be on when the ship is changing speed or direction. This means that spacecraft use dedicated thrusters to reorient themselves, and change direction in sharp bursts rather than gradually. If you see a spaceship changing direction without using maneuvering rockets, or making wide, sweeping turns, then that's because Space Is Air.

* Played straight with the {{Space Fighter}}s ''Pinball/StellarWars''

[[quoteright:300:[[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Pinball/TheEmpireStrikesBack http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/xwing-bank-in-space_3348.jpg]]]]

* Although the earlier incarnations of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' tend more toward SpaceIsAnOcean, later shows start to treat ships as much like airplanes as like sailing ships. Not only are we treated to shots of ships making expansive, banking turns like an atmospheric craft, but combat between ships is increasingly depicted as an OldSchoolDogfight.

* The ''Wing Commander'' movie takes this trope even further than Star Wars by having fighters take off from runways the same way airships take off from Aircraft Carriers and ships drop down when they leave the runway.

Space Is Air when a work treats spacecraft as if they were aircraft; they bank into turns, keep their engines firing at all times, and may even have wings built into their design. Aircraft-style design can be {{justified}} if the ship is capable of operating in atmosphere as well as in space (like the space shuttle), but the ''main'' reason that this trope exists is because audiences are more familiar with how airplanes work than with how spaceships work. Thus, creators treat spaceships as if they are simply airplanes [[RecycledInSpace in space]] instead of using realistic physics, in order to avoid [[ViewersAreMorons confusing the audience]]. This [[TropesAreTools isn't necessarily a bad thing]] -- after all, it can be used to great effect to make things [[RuleOfCool look really cool]] -- but it does push things down toward the softer end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness.

* The Elder Things from HPLovecraft's ''AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' fly through space with their wings. Note that this ''isn't'' ScienceMarchesOn, as Lovecraft knew perfectly well that "aether" was a debunked concept, despite referring to it in-story to justify this trope; he just liked the idea of space being full of aether more than that of it being vacuum.

* Averted in ''BabylonFive'' -- the Starfury is clearly designed for operation in three dimensions and looks nothing like an airplane; the pilot is not even in a seated position, but standing.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Averted for the most part, though the [[CoolStarship Normandy]] makes some suspiciously aerodynamic-looking maneuvers on occasion. {{Lampshaded}} by the pilot:

A subtrope of SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay, and sister trope to SpaceIsAnOcean. Also a frequent cause of SpaceFriction, and may be why BatmanCanBreatheInSpace. If you see OldSchoolDogfighting in space, it's usually because this trope is in effect; it also dictates the appearance of many {{Space Fighter}}s.

Space Is Air when a work treats spacecraft as if they were aircraft; they bank into turns, keep their engines firing at all times, and may even have wings built into their design. Aircraft-style design can be {{justified}} if the ship is capable of operating in atmosphere as well as in space (like the space shuttle), but the ''main'' reason that this trope exists is because audiences are more familiar with how airplanes work than with how spaceships work. Thus, creators treat spaceships as if they are simply airplanes [[RecycledInSpace in space]] instead of using realistic physics, in order to avoid [[ViewersAreMorons confusing the audience]]. This [[TropesAreNotBad isn't necessarily a bad thing]] -- after all, it can be used to great effect to make things [[RuleOfCool look really cool]] -- but it does push things down toward the softer end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness.

* ''VideoGame/{{Allegiance}}'' tries to find a sort of compromise between this trope and realistic physics, mainly by including SpaceFriction, but turning it ''down'' compared to most games: ships still move like they're immersed in a medium, but inertia is important as well. The overall effect ends up being that spaceships feel like they're moving through ''water'', rather than air.

* ''VideoGame/{{Allegiance}} tries to find a sort of compromise between this trope and realistic physics, mainly by including SpaceFriction, but turning it ''down'' compared to most games: ships still move like they're immersed in a medium, but inertia is important as well. The overall effect ends up being that spaceships feel like they're moving through ''water'', rather than air.

Space Is Air when a work treats spacecraft as if they were aircraft; they bank into turns, keep their engines firing at all times, and may even have wings built into their design[[hottip:*:The wings can be justified if the ship also flies or lands on planets]]. This is primarily because audiences are more familiar with how airplanes work than they are how spaceships work; thus, creators treat spaceships as if they are simply airplanes [[RecycledInSpace in space]] instead of using realistic physics, in order to avoid [[ViewersAreMorons confusing the audience]]. This [[TropesAreNotBad isn't necessarily a bad thing]] -- after all, it can be used to great effect to make things [[RuleOfCool look really cool]] -- but it does push things down toward the softer end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness.

Space Is Air when a work treats spacecraft as if they were aircraft; they bank into turns, keep their engines firing at all times, and may even have wings built into their design. This is primarily because audiences are more familiar with how airplanes work than they are how spaceships work; thus, creators treat spaceships as if they are simply airplanes [[RecycledInSpace in space]] instead of using realistic physics, in order to avoid [[ViewersAreMorons confusing the audience]]. This [[TropesAreNotBad isn't necessarily a bad thing]] -- after all, it can be used to great effect to make things [[RuleOfCool look really cool]] -- but it does push things down toward the softer end of MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness.

The way airplanes work is dependent on the fact that they're travelling through the atmosphere. Wings provide lift, flaps and rudders can reorient the plane by redirecting airflow, and their engines must be on constantly in order to counteract the effects of friction. Because space is a vacuum, none of these things apply to spaceships -- wings and flaps are useless, and the engine only needs to be on when the ship is changing speed or direction. This means that spacecraft use dedicated thrusters to reorient themselves, and change direction in sharp bursts rather than gradually. If you see a spaceship changing direction without using maneuvering rockets, or making wide, sweeping turns, then that's because Space Is Air.

* Averted in ''Babylon5'' -- the Starfury is clearly designed for operation in three dimensions and looks nothing like an airplane; the pilot is not even in a seated position, but standing.

* ''VideoGame/StarFox'' has its [[SpaceFighter Arwings]] handle exactly the same in space as they do in atmosphere -- to the point where, in some incarnations (such as ''VideoGame/Starfox64''), it shows the ailerons moving on the wings when you turn... which would do absolutely nothing in space.

A subtrope of SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay, and sister trope to SpaceIsAnOcean. Also a frequent cause of SpaceFriction, and may be why BatmanCanBreatheInSpace.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' uses fairly realistic Newtonian physics for the most part, but during combat, RuleOfCool pitches the laws of physics out the window and they revert to OldSchoolDogfighting.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' may actually be the TropeCodifier, particularly with the OldSchoolDogfighting between {{Space Fighter}}s.

* Although the earlier incarnations of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' tend more toward SpaceIsAnOcean, later shows start to treat ships as much like airplanes as like sailing ships. Not only are we treated to shots of ships making expansive, banking turns like an atmospheric craft, but ship combat is increasingly depicted as OldSchoolDogfighting.