Common sf ship terms: bridge, command center, etc.
You already know some of them. Just watch a few episodes of Star Trek. *
dodges rotten tomatoes for suggesting television as writing research...* Really, though, you do need to start digging into a lot of books, and your familiarity with them won't develop overnight. It'll take a few months to a year to really
start to understand the genre. And as for "pulp" series novels (such as Star Wars, Star Trek, etc.)- you read one, you read them all.
And there's nothing about using wands that ought to make people think you're ripping off Harry Potter. JKR relies on too many conventions for anyone to complain about ripping her off. Unless your student is named Gary and attends a private school called Hartworg's or something.
Re: grammar- it may be easier to type without caps and punctuation, but people will instantly respect you more if you spell properly. Your intelligence will, in people's minds, instantly be cut in half if you don't use basic grammar. And it's a lot easier for most people to read a properly capitalized sentence.
edit: a note on terminology. Nautical and scientific terminology may seem an unnecessary thing to learn, but a basic knowledge of them will last you a lifetime and it's surprising how often it comes in handy.