Spaceflight Technologies

The incredible machines and systems that make space travel possible, from the rockets that defy gravity (barely) to the life support systems that keep astronauts alive (fingers crossed) to the spacesuits that are essentially personalized spacecraft (with limited mobility and an unfortunate diaper situation). Spaceflight technologies include heat shields that laugh at re-entry temperatures, navigation systems that find a specific spot in the vast emptiness, and communication arrays that send messages across millions of miles with the latency of a really bad Zoom call.

Example: "He bought surplus spaceflight technologies from a government auction—a actual flight-tested heat shield panel. He hung it on his wall as art. Visitors asked if it had been to space. He said yes, and also that it had survived temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun, which was more than could be said for his last relationship."

by Abzugal February 14, 2026

Space Technologies

The tools and instruments we use to study the cosmos, from backyard telescopes (see a blurry dot, call it Jupiter) to space-based observatories like Hubble and Webb (see the dawn of time, have your mind permanently blown). Space technologies include rovers that drive on other planets (traffic jams on Mars are not a thing yet), satellites that beam internet from orbit (thanks, Starlink, for ruining astrophotography), and the Voyager probes, which are still transmitting from interstellar space on computers with less power than your microwave.

Space Technologies *Example: "He bought a space technology—a consumer-grade telescope that promised to reveal the wonders of the cosmos. After a month, he had seen the moon (impressive), Saturn's rings (faint but recognizable), and approximately 47 airplanes that he was very excited about until he realized what they were. The universe, he learned, is mostly dark and requires patience, which he did not have."*

by Abzugal February 14, 2026

Spacetime Technologies

The hypothetical or highly advanced tools that would allow us to manipulate, measure, or travel through the fabric of spacetime, from gravitational wave detectors that feel the universe's vibrations (LIGO, basically the most sensitive microphone ever built) to theoretical warp drives that would let us cheat relativity (requires negative energy, which we don't have, but wouldn't it be cool?). Spacetime technologies are either Nobel Prize-winning achievements or science fiction dreams, with very little in between. The most practical spacetime technology remains the clock, which measures our inexorable march toward the future whether we like it or not.

Example: "He read about spacetime technologies and learned that LIGO had detected gravitational waves from colliding black holes billions of light-years away. He then looked at his wristwatch, which also measured time but with significantly less drama. Both, he realized, were measuring the same universe, just at very different scales. His watch beeped. Somewhere, a black hole didn't."

by Abzugal February 14, 2026

Spacetime-Probability Technologies

The hypothetical devices that would allow users to perceive, navigate, or manipulate the probability dimension, effectively letting you see the paths not taken or, if you're brave enough, switch to them mid-stride. These technologies include probability goggles (showing overlays of every possible version of the present moment, which is overwhelming and deeply unhelpful when crossing the street), branch-shifters (devices that let you jump to a timeline where you didn't send that embarrassing text), and the ever-popular "quantum eraser" that claims to delete unfortunate outcomes from your personal probability tree (it doesn't work, but it sells well on late-night infomercials).

Spacetime-Probability Technologies *Example: "He bought a spacetime-probability technology headband that promised to show him all possible futures. When he put it on, he was immediately overwhelmed by 47 versions of himself making different lunch choices. One version had soup, one had salad, and one had apparently decided lunch was irrelevant and was just napping. He took the headband off and had a sandwich, hoping it was the optimal branch."*

by Abzugal February 14, 2026