hypersleep
Frozen space slumber
Hypersleep is a science fiction concept referring to a state of suspended animation used during long-distance space travel, allowing passengers to remain unconscious and age slowly or not at all while their spacecraft crosses vast distances.
The term combines hyper- (suggesting something beyond normal) with sleep, though the state is more like medically induced hibernation than ordinary rest.
The crew entered hypersleep for the twenty-year journey to the colony planet.
It appears frequently in films, novels, and video games set in space.
Frozen preservation of sleepers
- cryostasisPreservation through freezing
- cryopreservationLow-temperature biological preservation
- cryogenic storagePreservation at extremely low temperatures
- vitrificationTransformation into glass
cryoprotectant · suspended animation · liquid nitrogen · cold storage · freezing · thawing · preservation · reanimation
State of inactivity
- suspended animationHalted vital functions, reversible
- generation shipMultigenerational interstellar spacecraft
- time dilationClocks slow at speed
- space operaDramatic sci-fi in cosmos
colony ship · crew quarters · deep space · lightyears · skeleton crew · passenger manifest · sci-fi · futuristic
Inactive, sluggish state
- dormancySuspended biological activity
- hibernationProlonged winter dormancy
- metabolic depressionLowered cellular energy use
- quiescenceState of being inactive
diapause · aestivation · unconsciousness · induced coma · muscle atrophy · bone density · reawakening · bodily functions
Spacecraft crew member
- cosmonautRussian orbital traveler
- interplanetary travelJourneying between celestial bodies
- Mars missionVoyage to fourth planet
- deep space explorationInvestigating regions beyond Earth's orbit
spacecraft · starship · life support systems · radiation shielding · artificial gravity · space station · fuel efficiency · mission control
cryosleep
Frozen preservation of sleepers
- cryostasisPreservation through freezing
- cryopreservationLow-temperature biological preservation
- cryogenic storagePreservation at extremely low temperatures
vitrification · cryoprotectant · suspended animation · liquid nitrogen · cold storage · freezing · thawing · preservation · reanimation · revival
stasis
State of inactivity
- suspended animationHalted vital functions, reversible
- generation shipMultigenerational interstellar spacecraft
- time dilationClocks slow at speed
space opera · colony ship · crew quarters · deep space · lightyears · skeleton crew · passenger manifest · sci-fi · futuristic · 2001
torpor
Inactive, sluggish state
- dormancySuspended biological activity
- hibernationProlonged winter dormancy
- metabolic depressionLowered cellular energy use
quiescence · diapause · aestivation · unconsciousness · induced coma · muscle atrophy · bone density · reawakening · bodily functions
astronaut
Spacecraft crew member
- cosmonautRussian orbital traveler
- interplanetary travelJourneying between celestial bodies
- Mars missionVoyage to fourth planet
deep space exploration · spacecraft · starship · life support systems · radiation shielding · artificial gravity · space station · fuel efficiency · mission control · EVA
- sleepnap, doze, slumber, naps, snooze
- space travelspaceship, starship, spacecraft, astronaut, rocket
- stasisstasis, suspended animation, cryostasis, hibernation, dormancy
- Alien Franchisexenomorph, Ellen Ripley, Ripley, Newt, Hicks
sleep, sleepy, sleeping, slept, hyper, sleeper, hyperbole, sleepover, hyperactive