Author Topic: 'The Expanse' on SyFy - First trailer for new space opera show  (Read 127040 times)

Offline NovaSilisko

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Another point: Apparently Ceres has been spun up so much that something on the equator experiences 0.3g outward acceleration. That seems, to me, like a really good way to... how do I put this... remove Ceres' dwarf planet status.  :P

That's not specific to the show though, it was apparently present in the novels too.
« Last Edit: 11/25/2015 08:06 pm by NovaSilisko »

Offline KelvinZero

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Also mentioned back here:

I started reading the first book, and it all went pretty well until I got to the bit about Ceres. Which the books says is 250km in diameter and has been spun up to provide 0.3g for its six million inhabitants... even if it's not a typo and the excess mass has been stripped off, it's still badly threatening to my suspension of disbelief.

I thought it was just a massive habitation wheel built into Ceres that was rotating, and not the entire Ceres (how would they stop it from falling apart??), but my memory may be faulty.

I thought that at first, but I re-read bits of it, thinking "that can't be right." But that's exactly what is written. And yes, it would utterly disintegrate - the rotational energy is a couple of orders of magnitude above the binding energy.

I'm enjoying the characters and the plot but mistakes like that make it quite painful. I don't think the TV series will address any of these.

It is a strange flaw.. the particular mention of 250km diameter does make you wonder if the author literally meant ceres. How long have we known Ceres' rough size?

Offline NovaSilisko

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It was mentioned by one character in the first episode that "all" of the ice on Ceres has been mined by Earth and Mars for their uses... So I guess that would be an explanation for why it's smaller...?

I'm getting a general impression of, in spite of a lot of hard science stuff, a lot of numbers and notions being pulled out of someplace dark  :-X Which is a shame.

I wonder how plausible a space elevator on Ceres would be, with a space station for a counterweight, experiencing usable centrifugal force as a result (unless I'm mistaken as to the dynamics... wouldn't the counterweight of a space elevator experience acceleration outward?)
« Last Edit: 11/27/2015 12:34 am by NovaSilisko »

Offline QuantumG

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I really do hope this series continues but considering that I know the plot line I can't imagine it will. At some point the viewers will say "wtf? This is about SPOILERS, I thought it was about space?!" I mean, SPOILERS are pretty popular, but SPOILERS in space? Why? It was fine in a three part sci-fi serial with low circulation.. it wasn't even all that remarkable in that genre, but it seems like lazy writing for tv. Here's hoping they do it with finesse.

Human spaceflight is basically just LARPing now.

Offline yg1968

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I liked the first episode. Looking forward to the second one.

Offline KelvinZero

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It was mentioned by one character in the first episode that "all" of the ice on Ceres has been mined by Earth and Mars for their uses... So I guess that would be an explanation for why it's smaller...?

I'm getting a general impression of, in spite of a lot of hard science stuff, a lot of numbers and notions being pulled out of someplace dark  :-X Which is a shame.

I wonder how plausible a space elevator on Ceres would be, with a space station for a counterweight, experiencing usable centrifugal force as a result (unless I'm mistaken as to the dynamics... wouldn't the counterweight of a space elevator experience acceleration outward?)
Oh ok. That makes sufficient sense. I don't see us reaching that scale in 200 years but I dont claim to know what we will be capable of in 50 either. They have torch drives so they are not pretending to be diamond hard SF. Exponential growth could get us to that scale and beyond at some point.

Re the space elevator.. you could also launch a lot of ice that way couldn't you? Rather than relying on the weak solar energy to power mass drivers you could exploit Cere's rotational energy.


Offline Oli

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I enjoyed seeing the hard science fiction elements of it on a TV show for once, but couldn't find myself getting into the plot or characters very much.

The characters are a bit clichéd, washed-up detective and hard-boiled space miners, but I actually liked the plot so far.

I really do hope this series continues but considering that I know the plot line I can't imagine it will. At some point the viewers will say "wtf? This is about SPOILERS, I thought it was about space?!" I mean, SPOILERS are pretty popular, but SPOILERS in space? Why? It was fine in a three part sci-fi serial with low circulation.. it wasn't even all that remarkable in that genre, but it seems like lazy writing for tv. Here's hoping they do it with finesse.

I hope its not zombies  :-\
« Last Edit: 11/27/2015 08:58 am by Oli »

Offline Jarnis

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I enjoyed seeing the hard science fiction elements of it on a TV show for once, but couldn't find myself getting into the plot or characters very much.

The characters are a bit clichéd, washed-up detective and hard-boiled space miners, but I actually liked the plot so far.

I really do hope this series continues but considering that I know the plot line I can't imagine it will. At some point the viewers will say "wtf? This is about SPOILERS, I thought it was about space?!" I mean, SPOILERS are pretty popular, but SPOILERS in space? Why? It was fine in a three part sci-fi serial with low circulation.. it wasn't even all that remarkable in that genre, but it seems like lazy writing for tv. Here's hoping they do it with finesse.

I hope its not zombies  :-\

Sorry can neither confirm nor deny, would be spoilers.

Offline RonM

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I don't see us reaching that scale in 200 years but I dont claim to know what we will be capable of in 50 either. They have torch drives so they are not pretending to be diamond hard SF. Exponential growth could get us to that scale and beyond at some point.

200 years is a long time. Back in 1815, the US was getting over the War of 1812. Things have changed a lot since then.

Torch drives are okay. It's still hard SF. Certainly better than almost all SF TV shows.

Offline NovaSilisko

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Certainly better than almost all SF TV shows.

I'll agree with that. I'll certainly be keeping track of the series, even if I haven't found the plot super compelling (yet!)

Offline Jarnis

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Certainly better than almost all SF TV shows.

I'll agree with that. I'll certainly be keeping track of the series, even if I haven't found the plot super compelling (yet!)

Starts slow, but if it tracks the books and follows similar pace as the first episode, things should get interesting by episode 3-4... Can't wait to see the Rocinante.


Offline Lars-J

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I finally saw the pilot yesterday when broadcast, and I liked it a lot. But then again I am a fan of the books (even though they vary in quality), and I'm an easy sell for space opera.  ;D

There were certainly some flaws, the main characters will hopefully flesh out and be more appealing than what we have seen so far. But I do appreciate myself some *relatively* hard-ish space opera.

B+ for the first episode.

Offline JasonAW3

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It was mentioned by one character in the first episode that "all" of the ice on Ceres has been mined by Earth and Mars for their uses... So I guess that would be an explanation for why it's smaller...?

I'm getting a general impression of, in spite of a lot of hard science stuff, a lot of numbers and notions being pulled out of someplace dark  :-X Which is a shame.

I wonder how plausible a space elevator on Ceres would be, with a space station for a counterweight, experiencing usable centrifugal force as a result (unless I'm mistaken as to the dynamics... wouldn't the counterweight of a space elevator experience acceleration outward?)

Actually, with Mars or the Moon, a space elevator makes sense, for Ceres, with it's low gravity, it'd actually be more of a problem than a help.  In fact, I can see that what little gravity that Ceres has, would actually work as an advantage for docking of large ships.
My God!  It's full of universes!

Offline gosnold

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2nd (and 3rd and 4th) episodes are out, and are a lot of fun.

Offline Jarnis

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2nd (and 3rd and 4th) episodes are out, and are a lot of fun.

Episode 4 sold the thing for me for good. They are clearly staying very true to the books. This of course means... a proper, honest-to-god space battle that, while having some "artistic" viewpoints at times, made some sense and looked cool. And those last couple of minutes of ep 4... oh my... Rocinante... I want one :)

They are still giving a very honest attempt at portraying zero-G. Okay, budget clearly is not infinite, but what they're doing works for me. Oh, if only they'd have 2-3 times the budget... :)
« Last Edit: 12/18/2015 09:59 pm by Jarnis »

Offline Lars-J

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Yes, episode 4 was indeed awesome. Just great stuff, this is what I was hoping for.

Offline Star One

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Offline Lars-J

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Renewed for a second season.

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/12/31/the-expanse-renewed-for-second-season-on-syfy/

Yeah, I'm excited. :) And 13 episodes for season 2 is good news too. (Season 1 is 10 episodes)

Offline Star One

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Strange from my perspective that there has been no indication if the UK side of the channel has picked this up or not. I imagine they will but it looks like it will be a somewhat delayed showing.

Offline Lars-J

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Here's a scene from episode 4, for those of you who are on the fence about watching this show - It does highlight how the show approaches a ship-ship engagement and how it differs from most SF shows:

(NOTE: it does contain a minor spoiler, so if you are already committed and have not reached episode 4, you might wait)



EDIT:

And here is a behind the scenes video for episode 4, highlighting among other things the amount work to create the microgravity scenes:
« Last Edit: 01/05/2016 01:00 am by Lars-J »

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