Spaceships are BIG!

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-02-07 04:20pm

I was on YIM chatting with a friend the other day about various ships in the game "Homeworld-2" We where commenting about them vs Starwars ships and when I mentioned how a Old Republic Dreadnaught was 600 meters and that a Hiigarin Destroyer was around 500 meters, he qupped" Yeah, its a small ship."

I didn't think of it till I was latter surfing a sky scraper website and begun to realize, 500 meters isn't small, its huge, DAMN Huge.

It made me think that in Sci-Fi we often toss around sizes of ships, without really thinking just how bloody big something is. Look at the 500 meter Hiig Destroyer.

In-Game, its kinda big. When you zoom in on it, you see windows and such, but you really don't think its that big. And of course in Starwars, we have ships from 1600 meters, up to 18k. Now, to put some things in perspective.. HERE, is a Hiigarin Destroyer on end...

Thats right, the shi easily dwarfs the two largest buildings in the WORLD. Look at the WTC for a second, think how huge they looked... then realize they are less then one third as tall as a Star Destroyer...

So, I figured for those that have a good sense of scalling things and a hand at photoshop, why not take some of our most beloved ships, and compare them. not to other starships, but to things, Real world things that can give us true insight into the vast scale of starships.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-02-07 04:29pm

You mean like on this site?
EDIT: Although there seem to be not all that many real world objects in there. My memory isn't what it used to be. Sorry 'bout that.

Deathstalker · Post by **Deathstalker** » 2006-02-07 04:33pm

We have naval ships that are close to that size. A Nimitz is a little over 300 meters, and there are supertankers are around that size. The Dark Knight sent a link for seeing really big ships.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-02-07 04:35pm

Yeah, that sites actually old hat. And its example of what I was saying.. Sure, yo usee an ISD compared to all sorts of otherships, but nothing gives you a grasp of its immense scale.

Cropping ships next to things like, mountains, buildings, or even croping top down pics and laying them over Google-Eart City pics. At 1600 meters an ISD easily can cover all of Downtown Phoenix and a large are of industrial warehouses nearby.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2006-02-07 05:49pm

I thought anything less than 1 km for a sci-fi spaceship was small too. And here I was thinking 3 km is a standard size for a cruiser. Yeeesh.

Although since it's space I guess they can afford to build that much bigger.

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-02-07 07:35pm

Well, here's a little back-of-the-envelope scaling I just did:
An ISD silhouette over Manhattan

Does that convey the magnitude well enough?

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-02-07 07:43pm

Surlethe wrote:Well, here's a little back-of-the-envelope scaling I just did:
An ISD silhouette over Manhattan
Does that convey the magnitude well enough?

Yes and no (no offense intended). On an intellectual level most certainly , but then on an intellectual level we already know those beasts are freaking huge.
What I think Crossroads is going for is comparing ships to something we actually feel to be huge, wether from personal experience or constant exposure via other means.
Nobody really comrehends the size of Manhattan, because you can quite simply not see it. Not without being far enough away that you no longer realize the scale on an emotional level.
I'd venture most people who've seen the Empire State Building comprehend the size of that.
Just my 2 cents.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2006-02-07 10:27pm

Something like this strike your fancy?

Apologies for the crudeness of the marrying. Tried to do it as quickly as I could. No accounting for perspective distortion, and it assumes the ISD and ESB are on the same exact plane, so in reality the ISD wouldn't appear to be quite that big in such a shot, since it'd be some ways behind the ESB.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-02-07 10:33pm

Bloody Hell

Yeah, Thats more what I was thinking about.. Damn, even I'm shocked by how much that put things into perspective...

Post by **Surlethe** » 2006-02-07 11:06pm

The opening shot of ANH does a good job of conveying the ISD's magnitude, as well: this little starship rushes past, and then a moment later, the star destroyer looms over the screen ... and keeps looming ... and keeps looming ... and keeps going and going.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-02-08 03:08am

Batman wrote:You mean like on this site?
EDIT: Although there seem to be not all that many real world objects in there. My memory isn't what it used to be. Sorry 'bout that.

Is it just me, or has that site been pretty much dead for the last few months?

Instant Sunrise · Post by **Instant Sunrise** » 2006-02-08 03:31am

I went back in a decided to scale that pic of the AT-AT to the proper size, I had just eyeballed it before, now I have adjusted it to its proper height. behold!

The scaling is a roung back of the envelope calcuation using the width of a traffic lane, and SWTC. But it is a ballpark picture of roughly how big an AT-AT is.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2006-02-08 08:54am

skyman8081 wrote:

Nice, dude!

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2006-02-08 11:53am

Long time ago, I saw a picture some one did with (I believe) Newport News ship yard buiding the Enterprise. It was a good one for perspective.

Lord Zentei · Post by **Lord Zentei** » 2006-02-08 12:41pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Batman wrote:You mean like on this site?
EDIT: Although there seem to be not all that many real world objects in there. My memory isn't what it used to be. Sorry 'bout that.
Is it just me, or has that site been pretty much dead for the last few months?

I haven't noticed much change myself.

Einhander Sn0m4n · Post by **Einhander Sn0m4n** » 2006-02-08 03:16pm

Lord Zentei wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Batman wrote:You mean like on this site?
EDIT: Although there seem to be not all that many real world objects in there. My memory isn't what it used to be. Sorry 'bout that.
Is it just me, or has that site been pretty much dead for the last few months?
I haven't noticed much change myself.

Ever since the forums died it may as well have gotten cast in stone...

Braedley · Post by **Braedley** » 2006-02-08 04:08pm

skyman8081 wrote:I went back in a decided to scale that pic of the AT-AT to the proper size, I had just eyeballed it before, now I have adjusted it to its proper height. behold!

The scaling is a roung back of the envelope calcuation using the width of a traffic lane, and SWTC. But it is a ballpark picture of roughly how big an AT-AT is.

But it looked so much more impressive in the original...

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-02-08 04:25pm

Braedley wrote: But it looked so much more impressive in the original...

Probably becuase you could see all of it.
I happen to think this gives a good sense of perspective. Good work, Skyman, and McC, too.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-02-08 04:40pm

Lord Zentei wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Is it just me, or has that site been pretty much dead for the last few months?
I haven't noticed much change myself.

I'd say the fact that he's removed his update long entirely would count as a change.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-02-08 04:42pm

Batman wrote:
Braedley wrote: But it looked so much more impressive in the original...
Probably becuase you could see all of it.
I happen to think this gives a good sense of perspective. Good work, Skyman, and McC, too.

That and it also looks much more like a real picture.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-02-08 04:45pm

I have to say (not to hijack my own thread) That on the subject of Merzo it's a bit sad. About 4 months ago there was a rather active, newly growing forum that a lot of peeps where using to make pics for the main page of various ships. I was actually one of two mods that was appointed and talked with the Admin regulary.

One day I went on and the Forum was gone. No E-mail no warning, no message, just go. I sent several E-mails to the Admin and the other mod and niether one of us ever got any responses.

The fact that he actually removed the ongoing update log from the main site and replaced it with a Static generalized statment about the site makes me sadly think somethign may have happend and he just wanted not to deal with it anymore.

The last time I actually spoke with him, he was talking about how he was excited about the next updat and there was going to be a rather sizeable list of ships added... Alas...

Post by **Coyote** » 2006-02-08 04:45pm

Actually, McC, that picture of the ISD superimposed against the Empire (heheh) State Building makes me wonder-- how many people, on an avewrage working day, are in the Empire State Building...

Because I've always been of the impression that the ISD crew compliment of 15,000+ personnel would make an ISD crowded as all hell, but now I kinda envision it as a vast empty chamber with people calling "Helloooo..." down dark hallways looking for each other...

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-02-08 04:49pm

Well, the WTC At capacity easily held 10,000 people in its offices and various shops. It was crowded, but not overly so. And giving the WTC is around a third (lengthwise) of an ISD, 15,000+ seems like a vastly undermanned ship.

Siege · Post by **Siege** » 2006-02-08 04:55pm

While that's still essentially true, I don't think the WTC packed a hypermatter reactor

. A lot of ship space could be taken up by gigantic engines, reactors, torpedo bays, sensors and other assorted whatchamacallits that you need in The Future™ to navigate hyperspace and throw gigaton bolts of glowing doom at your enemy.

Still doesn't sound like a lot of crew for something so big though.

Batman · Post by **Batman** » 2006-02-08 05:00pm

Coyote wrote: Because I've always been of the impression that the ISD crew compliment of 15,000+ personnel would make an ISD crowded as all hell, but now I kinda envision it as a vast empty chamber with people calling "Helloooo..." down dark hallways looking for each other...

If it's any consolation, I initially used to think of ISDs as overcrowded, too-because I was used to spherical 2,500m-diameter ships having a grand total of 5,000 crew. Not skeleton, regular. If there ever was a SF navy that needed ships' councelors, it was the Perryverse Solarian Navy. Half the crew would've died from loneliness otherwise.
Not that that's particularly on-topic, of course.