Why do spaceships need wings in space?

[2001kraft]

I have always wondered- why do spaceships need wings in space?

I don't think solar wind is that powerful. And besides - it's lowering the TWR if you think about it.

Unless the craft is not an SSTO, in which case the wings it has do not provide enough lift.

So, why do spaceships need/have wings besides "just for the looks" factors?

[Streetwind]

No spaceship apart from the Space Shuttle ever had wings, and that one had them for the atmosphere.

Spaceships in science fiction have wings because the average reader - especially during the Sci-Fi boom in the 60's and 70's - had absolutely no concept of what space actually was, and the easiest thing to sell them the concept was to go "think of an airplane, except that there's no up and down". So all Sci-Fi spaceships were either stylized rockets or actually airplanes.

And with entire generations of people growing up on that, the tradition stuck, and nowadays it's just expected. Rule Of Cool and all that.

[pincushionman]

Why do which spaceships require wings? Real ones usually don't need them, and therefore don't have them. Do you mean in fiction? In general or in a particular work?

[How2FoldSoup]

Which spaceships are you talking about? Real spaceships or fictional spaceships?

Real spaceships? Unless you count solar panels as wings, the only spacecraft to ever have wings was the shuttle. It's wings were necessary to achieve the longer glideslope required for less heating for reusability.

Fiction? Rule of coolâ„¢

Edit: Ninja'd so hard...

[Streetwind]

I have ninja'd someone who knows how to fold a liquid substance.

My life is now complete.

[FishInferno]

Spaceships in Sci-fi have wings because, well, it's sci-fi. The space shuttle only had wings for it's "reusability"

[problemecium]

Perhaps the "wings" are really heat exchangers.

[Kryten]

No spaceship apart from the Space Shuttle ever had wings...

except X-37, X-15, X-23, BOR, Buran, and SS1

[2001kraft]

I mean in fiction.

Of course I know the space shuttle had wings because it had planned atmospheric re-entry and gliding back to the KSC (the real one).

Thanks for the answers about fiction - rule of cool seems to defy logic and sense and all that.

At least they didn't do that in Interstellar.

EDIT: ninjas, ninjas everywhere.

[Bill Phil]

Well...

X-15 had them, but it glided to a landing.

Buran had them, again gliding to a landing.

The Shuttle orbiter had them for landing too...

Something tells me it has to do with landing.

[2001kraft]

lol!

That's right.

There's also the "solar wind" excuse, but the wings are not big enough to have any affect with that.

[Bill Phil]

Well...

X-15 had them, but it glided to a landing.

Buran had them, again gliding to a landing.

The Shuttle orbiter had them for landing too...

Something tells me it has to do with landing.

In fiction, cylinders aren't as cool as airplanes, so you need some wings

[Nibb31]

What science fiction spaceships are you talking about?

[Bill Phil]

Ah snap... Double post. The EDIT button must have malfunctioned.... Or my hands... iPhones are pretty bad for use with fingers...

The ships like X-Wings, I guess.

[Dkmdlb]

The X-wing "wings" served mostly as radiators to dissipate heat.

S-foils had been developed to address overheating issues

Link

[2001kraft]

Mostly every single fictional space fighter features at least 2 wings with control surfaces.

[KerikBalm]

babylon 5 - most fighters didn't have wings

Homeworld: most fighters didn't have wings

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/homeworld/images/8/8a/AK_R1_inter06.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20071201114222

http://shipyards.relicnews.com/turanic/images/interceptor1.jpg

And of course, te alrge ships all lack wings...

You rarely (in fiction) see big ships with wings... but they treat space like a blue water navy... and then the small craft like atmospheric fighters...

But often its semi-plausible, if the space-fighters are also capable of atmospheric flight (as some starfury variants in Babylon 5 could)

Spaceships don't need wings.

Rule of Cool, and fighters that also fly in the atmosphere seems to be the only explanation

[FenrirWolf]

Fictional spaceships also tend to fly as if space were filled with a mysterious ether that's functionally equivalent to an atmosphere, so there's that too.

Also, 0/0 is an indeterminate form. It's not defined as equivalent to anything.

[Kryten]

The X-wing "wings" served mostly as radiators to dissipate heat.

They served to add to the whole Dambusters pastiche, same reason the X-wings made banking manouvers that are blatantly impossible outside of an atmosphere. 'Why would they put this in the film'≠'what half-baked justification did the fanboys come up with'.

[Bill Phil]

There's the Hornet in Star Citizen...

The Valkyrie fighters in the Macross series, however they were trans atmospheric.

In space, you can make banking maneuvers. In the atmosphere wings provide a force, and outside the atmosphere you can use engines to simulate that force. And the banking maneuvers would be relative to some object like a station or an asteroid...

[Newt]

In space, you can make banking maneuvers. In the atmosphere wings provide a force, and outside the atmosphere you can use engines to simulate that force. And the banking maneuvers would be relative to some object like a station or an asteroid...

But there really is no reason to bank generally in space maneuvers, unless your engines are arranged so as to make it logical.

I think that more of the real reason is because it looks 'right'. Star Wars space battles drew heavily on WWII dogfights, in which of course the aircraft have wings and bank and fly like airplanes generally. People see these images and apply them to spacecraft, when physically they should not need to behave the same at all.

Granted, there are some applications, radiators, perhaps radar, other stuff, and atmospheric flight. But an exclusive spacecraft needs wings as much as a ballpen needs an internal combustion engine.

[RainDreamer]

More attachment surfaces for stuff? Like, some battle space ships may want to arrange their gun batteries horizontally for a devastating forward alpha strike?

I think the TIE fighters in starwars has solar panels wings.

[Rakaydos]

The Starfuries in Babalon 5 didnt have wings, they had long pylons with maneuvering engines at the ends. Gives more leverage to the engine torque.

[linkxsc]

Well on the note of wings. More space for hardpoints, more space for radiators, more ability to handle in atmosphere.

In scifi youll note a lot of space craft are also atmospheric. Starwars, macross, BSG, all of those winged craft were also atmospheric.

On the note of the lol banking in starwars. I do realize it is a silly thought, and the whole design of the xwing was they wanted something that anyone could look at, and make a pretty good guess that this is some kind of fighter.

Though 1 halfassedly decent explanation for banking a spacecraft, your craft has SAS or RCS thrusters to maneuver does it not? Is it not possible that in 1 axis (pitch) there is more torque capability than in others (yaw and roll) perhaps even using some thrust vectoring. Cause often in scifi its treated that craft cant really stop and start their engines instantly (perhaps it wouldnt be too good for the reactor or whatever), which would make those more useful.

Hence when trying to reorient the craft, it might be faster to roll and pitch rather than yaw?

Also theres the point of contention in that the xwing like a real aircraft has the hull of the craft in the way of more than half the pilots vision. Banking into a target would allow the pilot to keep the target in view, as opposed to yawing the craft over.

[Newt]

A wing is a type of fin with a surface that produces aerodynamic force for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid. As such, wings have an airfoil shape, a streamlined cross-sectional shape producing lift.

Are these levers and hardpoint connectors and solar panels wings, or are they wing like protrusions?