Space
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- For the Canadian television network, see Space (TV channel).
- For the 2011 Comic Relief story, see Space (TV story).
Space was a word used to refer to two different concepts relating to the universe. One referred to dimensions; space was linked to time, with space being three dimension and time the fourth. (DW: An Unearthly Child) 'Space' was also defined as the vacuum in the universe, outside of a planetary body's atmosphere. This was often known as "outer space"[source needed].
Space travel
Space was a hostile environment as a vacuum. Many species required a form of spacecraft to travel through space. Some species such as Time Lords could survive for a period in the vacuum of space, though they still needed to breathe oxygen. (DW: Four to Doomsday/The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe)
Development of the ability to travel through space was regarded as one of the first real steps species took in their planetary and species' development. The Time Lords developed space travel when "the universe was half its present size." (DW: Genesis of the Daleks) Humanity's first sojourn into exploring space began in the mid-20th century with the launch of several satellites. (EDA: Alien Bodies)
Biological abilities
Kitlings were a species able to travel through space (and time) without any technological requirements. (DW: Survival, NA: First Frontier)
Likewise, the Eight Legs could also transport themselves through space. (DW: Planet of the Spiders)
Space/vacuum exposure
Krynoid pods were able to survive exposure to the vacuum of space by hibernating during the voyage through space. (DW: The Seeds of Death)
Wirrn were also able to survive in and travel through space. They could live without fresh air for several years, but they needed to return to a planet to gather food or breed. (DW: The Ark in Space)
The Rutan Host could travel through space without any effects. (NA: Shakedown)
Behind the scenes
- Physics tells us that space is interwoven with time, and the two should be considered as either one and the same or directly impacting each-other, as most physicists refer to the structure of existence as 'spacetime'. In traditional, Euclidian thinking, space has only three dimensions (height, width, and depth). Using the concept of spacetime, existence then has a 'fourth dimension', creating what is called the 'spacetime continuum', which is often another way of stating the 'universe at large'.
- This is, of course, the science-fiction way of looking at things. Generally speaking it's a lot more complicated than that, but whenever the 'space-time continuum' is mentioned, they are generally referring to the Universe in general.
- Early Doctor Who material was also far less technical that it has since become, often using technobabble and inaccurate descriptions under the belief that most viewers wouldn't understand anyway.[source needed] For example, in An Unearthly Child, Susan Foreman states that in addition to the three dimensions used in a math problem, you must also use a fourth, time, and a fifth, which she says is space. However, space is made up of the first three dimensions, meaning that her description of the problem was totally wrong.
See also
