I think the idea that everything was taking place in a single system was in Serenity (the movie).

I actually got that feeling from the show, too. Damn it, I know I can find that fucking thing...

Where did you get the idea they left in all directions?

SPACESHIPS. They radiate out from the shadow sphere, scatter in all directions. Leave it behind.

*My* question was always "Why go to a whole other system? We got dozens upon dozens of moons and whatnot right here in ol' Sol System. Mars, anyone?" But that's probably just me.

Mars is the only real terraforming candidate in Sol. Beyond the asteroid belt, solar luminescence is far too low to support plant life, and Mercury is way too close. Also you would need to accelerate Mercury's rotation without breaking it apart so there is planetary temp evens out a bit. Venus would be a good candidate if only it had a magnetic field. The planet is very close, it has an atmosphere, lots of free CO2, but without the magnetosphere free O2 gets blown into the solar winds way too fast, which explains why there is no free H20 on Venus. And to get a magnetosphere you need a rotating liquid iron core, not something that is easy to whip up.

As for the 'Verse, it is my understanding is that is a tight cluster of solar systems, making traveling between systems of the Verse possible though long (in the month long trip category, very pioneer/settler trail analogy) but the trip to system outside the 'Verse across the Deep Black would take years, which is beyond most ship's endurance.

DXMachina was the first to bring it up, in the Buffista archives, now, in the first Firefly thread [link] AKA Firefly 1: Josssssss Innnnn Spaaaaaaaaaaace! :

DXMachina - Sep 21, 2002 10:02:41 pm PDT #533 of 10011

"After the Earth was used up, we found *a* new solar system, and *hundreds* of new earths were terraformed and colonized."

Mars is the only real terraforming candidate in Sol. Beyond the asteroid belt, solar luminescence is far too low to support plant life, and Mercury is way too close. Also you would need to accelerate Mercury's rotation without breaking it apart so there is planetary temp evens out a bit. Venus would be a good candidate if only it had a magnetic field. The planet is very close, it has an atmosphere, lots of free CO2, but without the magnetosphere free O2 gets blown into the solar winds way too fast, which explains why there is no free H20 on Venus. And to get a magnetosphere you need a rotating liquid iron core, not something that is easy to whip up.

Okay, yes, you're right...in real life.

But they made it pretty clear in Firefly that their terraforming technology was damn near magical. I believe they even mention specifics, kind of, in the Serenity RPG book. Using artifical gravity generators and whatnot to keep atmosphere around a given heavenly body and so forth.

So, assuming that that tech wasn't developed on the way to the new system, because how do you test it, then the question remains...why travel for years and years to a brand new system when you've got a perfectly useful one right here?

And the answer to that is: It's TV, Joe, shut up already.

Well, there is the grey goo school of terraforming.

Grey goo is nickname for a possible apocalypse, where nanites dissemble everything on the planet down to grey goo.

Grey goo school of terraforming is let loose a nanite plague onto a world, maybe crash some of its moons or large asteroids to give the nanites something more material to work with, and let them reduce the planet to grey goo, and then rebuild the planet into something more supporting of human life. Increase gravity by increasing planetary density, create an atmosphere by freeing Oxygen from its binded state, and so on.

With that, you could terraform Jupiter into several nice vacation worlds. But that requires a tech curve for nanite manipulation to be on the subatomic scale where right now there does not even seem to be any reliable theory to even approach it below the molecular scale.

(And yes, I know there have been some success, but the methodologies require specific circumstances and materials, without any apparent generalizable methods arising from that.)

I think the technical term for the Firefly 'verse's terraforming method is "Clarke-istic". "It's so advanced, it's like magic!"

See also: Handwavium.

So, assuming that that tech wasn't developed on the way to the new system, because how do you test it, then the question remains...why travel for years and years to a brand new system when you've got a perfectly useful one right here?

Maybe they tested it in our current system, and managed to use up the available planets with the testing. Or, maybe the problem with EtW affected the whole system, but it just doesn't sound as good to say Solar System that Was.

I am having the gorramest difficulty finding a transcript of that horrible voice-over they tacked on to some of the air eps

Shrift transcribed and posted one of them: [link]

==========

CHYRON READS: "2517 A.D."

MAL (V.O)
Here's how it is:
(beat)
The Earth got used up, so we moved out
and terraformed a whole new galaxy of
earths. Some, rich and flush with the new
technologies. Some... not so much. The
Central Planets, them as formed the Alliance,
waged war to bring everyone under their rule.
Few idiots tried to fight it, among them -- myself.
(beat)
I'm Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity.
She's a transport ship, Firefly class.
Got a good crew: fighters, pilot,
mechanic. We even picked up a preacher,
for some reason, and a bona fide Companion.
There's a doctor, too. Took his genius sister
out of some Alliance camp, so they're
keeping a low profile. You understand.
(beat)
You got a job, we can do it. Don't
much care what it is.

CUE TEASER

==========

Shrift transcribed and posted one of them:

That's the repaired one.

hmmm... Here's the original opening from Mejiaville:

Jeff Mejia "Mejiaville" Sep 21, 2002 2:01:57 am PDT

OK, here is the introduction to Firefly:

The entire introduction is narrated by Book (Ron Glass)

After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized.

We open on the Serenity flying past the camera as it swoops around an Earth-like planet. Two moons are visible in the ditance.

The next shot is of the Serenity hovering over the ground in some desert-ish location.

The third shlaot is of a standard western mining town, where the people are milling around on the dusty street and in front of the stores. A couple of soldiers/policemen are seen patrolling in the foreground, as gas flames are shown off in the distance.

The central planets formed the Alliance, and decided all the planets had to join under their rule.

Cut to a shot of a bunch of uniformed people walking in a vast computer center. This looks to be the "Central Command" center.

Cut to another shot showing a large, dark object in space. It lookl like 2 triangular towers, with a third, smaller tower in front. This might be the command center from a space view.

There was some disagreement on that point.

Cut to a closer shot of people milling around, as 2 soldiers/policemen look on.

Cut to a shot of a battle, where we see multiple explosions.

Cut to another shot of battle, where we see a squad of soldiers shooting it out as they make their way across a battle-scarred terrain.

A third shot of the battle shows a plane/spaceship swooping down and strafing the battlefield.

Expand out to a wider scene of the battle, where we can see multiple space ships hovering over the cneter of actions and beams and flashes of light coming down from said ships.

After the war, many of the Independents who had fought and lost, drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control.

Cut to a close up of Mal, at the battlefield, looking on in horror.

Cut to another shot of the battlefield, where we see Zoe looking on in horror at the carnage.

Cut to a shot of the Serenity

blasting out into space, the Firefly engines in full force and a serious gaseous wake in its trail.

Cut to a shot of Mal in a spacesuit during a spacewalk, with what he is looking at reflected in his visor (the Dave Bowman shot).

Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies.

Cut to a shot of a standard Western town, where the people are milling about on the dirt roads, looking at the stranger walking down the street.

Cut to a shot of two horses pulling a wagon through a river.

A ship would bring you work.

We see a shot of the Serenity dropping down to a spaceport.

A gun would help you keep it.

Cut to a low-angled shot looking up at Mal holding a gun on the viewer.

A captain's goal was simple:

Cut to a shot of Mal in the cockpit of the ship, looking pensive.

find a crew,

We see a shot of Wash and Zoe in the cockpit. Zoe is standing next to a seated Wash as they hold hands.

Cut to a close-up of Jayne on board the ship.

find a job,

Cut to a shot of Kaylee, smiling. (Transcriber's note: I love the smile).

keep flying.

Fade out on a shot of the Serenity flying off into space (only using the two outside engines).

ELAPSED TIME - 0:35

I notice that the charge of it being a single solar system is incorrect, because the word "and" is not inclusive to the same system.

Nevertheless, it was not clear enough and was changed.