I write Space Opera It’s nothing for me to be ashamed of, it is just my style. In such fiction there is some leeway as to how things work. If you prefer grounded science I can suggest several excellent Hard Science writers.
Now, in my preferred genre there is a lack of solid science needed, not none mind you, but a lot more technobabble is acceptable. What I like to call “Handwavium.” I didn’t coin the term, don’t remember when I first heard of it, and have no copyright on it. I consider this element so powerful that it should be used as sparingly as possible to still get where the story needs to go without the reader chucking it over their shoulder.
We all know that in this point of time Faster Than Light travel is impractical. I don’t have an energy source the size of Jupiter handy, but in SF pulling a Johnson Tanaka drive off the shelf and slapping it on a hull is common. We, the writers of fiction, hardly ever know how things acutally work. I asked a few experts on a couple of small facts, but in reality I am making most of this up as I go along.
Getting the physics of your world right isn’t as important as the story. The quote runs something like “Any technology advanced enough is akin to magic.” Most of my technobabble might as well be “It just works”
Follow the Antares 