# Death Star designer dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937 "2022-05-23T14:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/21 "2022-05-23T16:57:18Z")
I can understand being confused where the trench is. The filmmakers were working off outdated information. The briefing before the attack uses the original graphics, with the weapon “dent” right on the equator. I’m surprised Lucas never “fixed” it for one of the many special editions. I like that they kept the wrong graphics in Rogue One. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/22 "2022-05-23T17:21:40Z")
That looks more like the training remote that Luke used to practice his lightsaber with Kenobi. [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/c/ce/Training_remote.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/c/ce/Training_remote.jpg) [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio%2C_Model_R-70%2C_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter%2C_Made_in_Japan_%289791953376%29.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio%2C_Model_R-70%2C_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter%2C_Made_in_Japan_%289791953376%29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/23 "2022-05-23T19:33:10Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I can understand being confused where the trench is. The filmmakers were working off outdated information. The briefing before the attack uses the original graphics, with the weapon “dent” right on the equator. I’m surprised Lucas never “fixed” it for one of the many special editions. I like that they kept the wrong graphics in Rogue One. It’s not just the graphics, though. When the Millenium Falcon is brought on to the Death Star by the tractor beam, we can see how wide the trench is that circles the equator. When the rebels are making their attack runs down the trench with the exhaust port, it’s much, much smaller. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/24 "2022-05-23T19:38:27Z")
[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio%2C_Model_R-70%2C_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter%2C_Made_in_Japan_%289791953376%29.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio%2C_Model_R-70%2C_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter%2C_Made_in_Japan_%289791953376%29.jpg) I want one! 🥰 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/25 "2022-05-23T19:48:32Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > The briefing before the attack uses the original graphics, with the weapon “dent” right on the equator. It also had the big-ass laser on the equator. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/26 "2022-05-23T19:55:18Z")
The main weapon was originally going to be fired through the polar axis, not from the dish on the surface, ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/27 "2022-05-23T19:56:56Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > It also had the big-ass laser on the equator. The dent _is_ the “big-ass laser”. [![](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/50/Superlaser2.jpg) ](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/5/50/Superlaser2.jpg) Its name is “superlaser” in the Star Wars universe. (And yes, it is a ridiculous name.) ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/28 "2022-05-23T20:02:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Its name is “superlaser” in the Star Wars universe. (And yes, it is a ridiculous name.) Sure, but not as ridiculous as either the Sun Crusher or whatever that thing that was just a superlaser without the Death Star superstructure was called. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/29 "2022-05-23T20:11:09Z")
I remember the Sun Crusher. I remember it from reading the comics. It was even worse, but at least it was only in “Expanded Universe” stories, and isn’t canon. So you can plausibly ignore its existence. > **[Sun Crusher](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sun_Crusher)** > > The Sun Crusher was one of the most powerful superweapons ever devised. It was developed at the secret Maw Installation. The Sun Crusher was a nearly indestructible craft that was no larger than a starfighter, but was capable of unleashing... It was basically the same as the Death Star, but instead of blowing up a planet, it blew up a star (causing it to supernova). That would destroy entire systems. Oh, and it was only the size of a starship, and was nearly indestructible. > **[Star Wars' Dumbest Superweapon - The Sun Crusher (And I Love It)](https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2021/03/star-wars-dumbest-superweapon-the-sun-crusher-and-i-love-it.html)** > > Let's talk about the dumbest superweapon ever seen in Star Wars. It first appeared in the 1994 novel _[Jedi Search](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jedi_Search)_, and was a product of the XTREME!!! mentality that was far too common in the 90s. (Also see the countless grimdark superhero titles of that era.) ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/30 "2022-05-31T22:47:16Z")
That’s what all the employees said, too. At that, it was better than the Lucent logo, which people likened to either a lipstick circle or an inflamed anus. [![](https://www.famouslogos.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/lucent-logo1.jpg) ](https://www.famouslogos.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/lucent-logo1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/31 "2022-06-01T18:05:52Z")
That’s just _asking_ to be photoshopped with goatse. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/32 "2022-06-01T18:22:20Z")
But luckily he built in a design flaw which he gave to his estranged daughter who then was able to steal it for the Rebel Alliance. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/33 "2022-06-01T21:41:07Z")
Yeah, that Suncrusher thing is almost as dumb as the star-killing vintage Star Destroyers from Rise of Skywalker. So why even build planet-sized planet-killing super-weapons like the Death Star and Starkiller Base when you can apparently miniaturize the tech into some big goofy over-sized gun and graft it to the underside of thousands of Imperial Navy surplus Star Destroyers? I mean we had at least 4 Star Wars films revolving around the Imperial strategic doctrine of building giant, oversized, planet-killing weapons. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/34 "2022-06-01T22:44:45Z")
Methinks _somebody_ was compensating for something. Or a lack thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2022, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/35 "2022-06-02T05:28:33Z")
Well, Anakin did lose various body parts in that lava-infused fight with Obi-wan… ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/36 "2022-06-03T15:16:18Z")
Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. Also Saturn’s moon Mimas: [Saturn's 'Death Star' moon could have a secret underground ocean | Space](https://www.space.com/saturn-death-star-moon-hidden-ocean) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/37 "2022-06-04T01:42:50Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Epitaph: “Never forget to shield your thermal exhaust ports.” They were _ray_ shielded, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/38 "2022-06-04T02:11:33Z")
But they were 2 meters wide; large enough that some random farm boy whose only experienced is shooting “wamp rats” could aim a torpedo down them without even using a targeting computer. \That’s a _terrible_ design!\ Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/39 "2022-06-04T06:30:29Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > But they were 2 meters wide; large enough that some random farm boy whose only experienced is shooting “wamp rats” could aim a torpedo down them without even using a targeting computer. That’s a _terrible_ design! I wonder if the womp is a unit of measure in the _Star-Wars_-verse, equal to two meters. And womp rats are named for their size, like an inch worm. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/40 "2022-06-04T06:34:24Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I wonder if the womp is a unit of measure in the _Star-Wars_ -verse, equal to two meters. And womp rats are named for their size, like an inch worm. I once ran the Mos Espa loop in less than 500 womps. Stranger [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937.md?page=3)