Heighliner

Heighliners are enormous starships used for interstellar travel in the fictional "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert. They are the "major cargo carrier of the Spacing Guild's transportation system." [Herbert, Frank. "Dune", "Terminology of the Imperium" (Heighliner)] .

Duke Leto Atreides says of them in "Dune":

A Heighliner is truly big. Its hold will tuck all our frigates and transports into a little corner — we'll be just a small part of the ship's manifest.

Heighliner operation requires both a Guild Navigator and a Holtzman generator. The Holtzman generator uses the Holtzman effect to "fold space" and allows virtually instantaneous interstellar travel. The Navigator is responsible for finding a safe path through folded space and guiding the ship. This is accomplished under the influence of melange in the form of orange spice gas. Melange provides the Navigator with the limited form of prescience required.

Unable to land, heighliners jump from point to point, parking in planetary orbits. Orbital ferries or interplanetary spacecraft load and unload the heighliner. Special laws govern travel aboard a heighliner; heighliners are considered neutral territory and all acts of war aboard heighliners carry stiff penalties.

According to the "Legends of Dune" series, heighliners were invented by Norma Cenva. In subsequent millennia, the ships are manufactured on the planet Ix. During the events described in the prequel "", a heighliner is expertly spacefolded into a cavern under the surface of Ix, incapacitating an occupying army during the Atreides-led liberation of the planet.

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