Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Superman's space speed? Distance to Krypton?

Hello, I'm working on a fic that has Clark considering travelling somewhere and I want to come up with an estimated time that he'll be gone.
Any ideas for how fast Superman can go in space? I've seen that he can go faster than light.

And I've found 27+ light years away for Krypton. Is that right?

Thanks!

Julie

No idea of how fast he can go, but remember that it was established in the show that he could only hold his breath for 20 mins at a time. So he would need an oxygen tank to travel with, and, in fact, used one when he went into space the first time he attempted to destroy Nightfall.

I don't think the L&C Superman can go FTL. The fastest we ever saw him move was too fast to notice but no where near light speed.

So, it will be pretty obvious from the get go that Clark never actually leaves. Still, it has to be believable. I know in some of the comics he was able to travel between earth and Pluto a matter of minutes. But you're right that doesn't fit with the show and so far it totally does. (I did already have his supplied with air, in liquid form to save space, for a longer trip)

My secondary idea of S.T.A.R. Labs having something that helps him travel faster stopped seeming like a good idea when I thought about how they really aren't that much further technologically than we are and faster than light travel is still out of our reach...

But then there is the other question I've been toying with... Is Superman subject to laws of general relativity?

Again, he's not actually making the trip, But the plot line in a good one and I don't want to change it because I can't see it making sense another way....

Alas.

I'm doing this as part of NaNoWriMo and my goal is to finish it by Friday. I'm sure it will all work out eventually as every other plot hole has worked itself out so far.

Hi JellyS2,

Perhaps he could get an assist from H.G. Wells?

Just a thought.

Joy,
Lynn

Wait.

Its all a lie anyway, couldn't S.T.A.R. Labs (or more importantly the bad guy doing this through them) just lie about the technology? No because then someone would want evidence or to be able to recre...

Unless...

There is this machine that is being used to make people think and feel whatever, (like in Oedipus Rex, sort of) They could just use it to make this blow over without anyone thinking its weird... hmmmm...

I think I need to sleep on this. Thanks for listening ... er, reading.

Okay, here's what I'm thinking and my reasoning behind it. Please tell me what you think.

1. They don't actually know how fast Superman can fly in space. Each time he has flown in space it was to a particular destination for a particular purpose. In All Shook Up, with nightfall, he flew to the asteroid to stop it. In Vatman, he flew close enough to the Sun to direct the clone's body into it to destroy (granted, gravity would easily take the body the rest of the way, but the camera angle suggests he was a bit closer...) In Super Mann, he flew to the Sun to have its gravity pull the radioactive bits from him. I don't think any of these are composed in such a way as to allow me to use the scenes to calculate a speed (I could try, just for the fun of it.) But since each time he's going somewhere relatively close, maybe his speed just hasn't been tested. Maybe I need to add some speed tests into my story, like they tell him to fly to [planet] and clock his speed and time and realize that once out of the atmosphere he can accelerate so fast hat the sensors can't keep up with him. He flies to [planet] and returns in exactly the right amount of time to make the time I need in the story work out.

2. In the last two examples above, Clark did not have any breathing assistance and I clearly need to watch All Shook Up again to remember exactly why they'd given it to him. I'll still give him oxygen, because I like that scene and I already wrote it.

3. At no point in the show did they ever address quantum mechanics and since Superman already violates most of the laws of physics, I'll do whatever I like regarding that (which may be nothing since I don't think it affects my story at all).

Does that all sound like it fits?

S.T.A.R Labs could have reverse engineered the engine on Clark's ship. They never say whether Clark's ship was FTL or not but it is implied. (Clark could have never made it to NK and back in a human lifetime otherwise.) I believe Jor-El said that creating a manned ship was only a matter of time. Maybe it wasn't a technological issue at all, just time and resources to build one.

I should have specified earlier that this fic takes place near the beginning of Ultrawoman (of note: Ultrawoman doesn't happen in this story, that was going to complicate things).

Not sure what I can add to the discussion, but here goes.

Yes, his top speed perhaps never was tested. That leaves a lot of leeway for fan fic.

According to the online script, Superman was given a six hour supply of oxygen since he could only hold his breath for twenty minutes.

The only fan fiction in Lois and Clark that I know has him flying close to the speed of light or faster without a ship is For the Greater Good By Wendy Richards. It's a great read, with fabulous descriptions of what he might have felt and seen while traveling that fast. It also has angst, and explored the pain of leaving his family behind, possibly on a suicide mission, that wasn't really touched on in "All Shook Up." Oh, and Lois gets to go Mad Dog to some pompous bureaucrats, although as I recall she tells about it rather than the reader "seeing" it.

There are several fan fics where he travels to other solar systems, but always in a ship or via a teleportation device. Some of them have him being a scientist and designing & building the ship and teleportation devices himself.

I wound up googling this super-fast (no pun intended) and found this link. You may find the Silver/Bronze Age info helpful:

Link

"Super Speed: Superman's speed increased to the point where he could travel faster than light. Several stories depict him traversing great distances through space to other solar systems and distant galaxies and even other universes. He could cross our own solar system in minutes. He could also use this power to travel through time, as shown in his boyhood visits to the 30th century as a member of the Legion of Superheroes. Superman can also swim at speeds approaching Aquaman's speed as well as run at speeds similar to that of the Flash. Superman is unable to beat Flash in a race."

Just a clarification on that: Superman is unable to beat the Flash in a *foot* race. He is faster if he is allowed to fly.

Yeah, I still don't know what I'm going to do about that.

But on a side note, I had a bit of fun (seriously, because I'm a nerd) calculating how much oxygen Clark would need to for a 5-6 year trip in space. Based on the average human with 20 breaths per minute and Clark's ability to hold his breath for 20 minutes, and some very fun conversions and gas law equations, and using liquid oxygen (in a special contraption built by S.T.A.R. Labs), Clark only needs about 3 liters - totally reasonable! I can even double it and its still a reasonable amount for Superman to have to fly with.

If anyone is interested in being a BR for this story, let me know. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet, but will be soon.