Slipstream space (Earth-5875)

Slipstream space, colloquially known as slipspace, slipstream and Shaw-Fujikawa space, is a dimensional subdomain of alternate spacetime, which consists of eleven non-visible infinitesimal dimensions, which is used for faster-than-light travel. Devices that allow a ship to travel in slipspace are known as slipspace drives.

History
Slipstream space refers to a set of eleven "nondimensions" which exist in a small bundle "above" the temporal and three spatial dimensions noticeable to living beings. Through the movemement of matter from the three spacial dimensions and one time dimension of normal space to the slipstream, an individual is able to change the laws of physics for that particular piece of matter. This allows faster-than-light travel without relativistic side-effects, such as a ship's occupants not "warping" on time with the superluminal speed.

In 2191, following the discovery of element zero, Ishtar Collective members, Dr. Tobias Shaw and Dr. Wallace Fujikawa were the first humans to create a device that allowed for the safe transition of matter in and out of slipstream space, naming it the Shaw-Fujikawa translight engine, which allowed humanity to start a colonial expansion beyond the Sol system.

The Covenant utilized the same eleven dimensions of slipstream for space travel, although they discovered more sophisticated ways of doing so, making much faster journeys from point to point in comparison to the relatively slow humanity.

Mechanics
Slipspace is a tangle of intertwined non-spatial dimensions, which can be compared to a wadded piece of paper. Instead of taking the "flat sheet" used to represent gravity and crumbling it into a small ball, it creates extra dimensions and shorter spaces between points. The normal plane of existence is believed to have four dimensions, but slipspace possesses eleven. It is entwined with the physical universe in away that the phenomenon that happens in one planet happens in another, and with the capable technology, transitions are possible.