The Inertial Dampning Field System (IDF) generates a controlled series of variable – symmetry force fields that serve to absorb the inertial forces of high speed spaceflight that would otherwise cause fatal injury to the crew.
The IDF works parallel to the ship’s structural integrity field (SIF, which augments the mechanical integrity of the ship’s space frame).
Acceleration effects are anticipated by computers, and the IDF is distorted along a vector diametrically opposed to the velocity change, thereby nullifying the force.
There is a characteristic lag time for the shifting of IDF direction and intensity, and although most vector corrections can be anticipated, the crew will sometimes feel sudden changes and impacts.