The problem with sleeper ships

Elite Dangerous players flying loops around generation ships while listening to their horror downfall logs.

The closest thing in terms of a novel would be "Far Centaurus" by A. E. van Vogt

Wow. This is actually the plot for one of the side quests in Starfield. Neat idea; i'd like to see it done in a better game.

There was a sci-novel about that, I don't remember who wrote it. Essentially, after FTL got invented they caught up with generation ships and retro-fitted them with FTL drives; overall message of the story was that humans are a valuable resource and they should not be discarded lightly, especially in a mission to seed the galaxy.

It's a good argument against trying sleeper/generation ships.

In practice, though, the actual sleepers would be so happy to arrive to find a nice McDonalds and a charming small town instead of shuttling down into the middle of uninhabited Arrakis with a 3D printer and a prayer.

Worse: your sleeper ship arrives at what should be a pristine planet. But FTL capable ships beat you there. And they ruined the planet over a few thousand years. And now they’re sending out refugee ships of their own.

I really don't see the problem here. They did all the hard work for you and they probably all pity you.

Or you know, this is discussed in advance and the faster ships pickup the slower ships on the way (if possible).

I get the world is a shit show, but it is less so when we discuss.

Fun meme though.

Such a plot device has been used in every sci-fi universe I've been interested in. It's not even funny.

Or you arrive to find the civilization has had time to collapse and given way to the rise of damned dirty apes.

Imagine trying to escape humanity only to end up being surrounded by humans again. Nightmare fuel.

When your daughter looks like this

Sorry too soon

And for the only time in your life, you're SO well rested!

Oof, what if it turned out you get 3000 years of nightmares and wake up insane?

If you have working FTL now, though, and can get there faster why not also intercept the sleeper ships and bring them with you?

I'm surprised this isn't the central plot device of some blockbuster property.

It's a neat idea from a sci-fi perspective, but when you think about the most efficient forms of space propulsion (slingshots around large gravity wells) I'm not sure how we'll manage to do much better.

Either you catch up to someone before they leave the solar system or you're just going to shorten the time needed to reach their terminal velocity.

There's a diminishing return as you approach the speed of light, and FTL travel isn't exactly a trivial hurdle.

Attempts to prevent this phenomenon involve using what is called the "wait calculation" to predict how long to wait to launch an interstellar journey.

ECS Constant in Starfield.

Outriders. Absolutely underrated game

They didn't dock and help you out? Rude.

It's still likely the only way you could have made the trip.

But you’d also be 50 years older so there’s that

If FTL is impossible (as is likely the case) there is a point where a better ship can't catch up, even if its going like 0.9c.

You guys think KFC is still open?