# ESB: The Battle of Hoth **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2005, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173 "2005-06-14T02:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![straight\_man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/straight_man/32/3027_2.png) [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/81 "2005-06-17T04:16:45Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > Helicopters are a lot more agile than AT-ATs, and can actually get close to the ground if need be. I watched ESB a couple days ago, and if I remember the battle right, Luke jumps from an AT-AT in full gear just before it explodes, no rope or anything. Okay, he has the force, but the point is, they can’t be that high up. Certainly a rope should work. Incidentally, the AT-AT may be less agile than a helicopter, but by the same token, it will be much more steady, since it’s actually touching the ground. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/82 "2005-06-17T06:47:49Z")
Everything you ever wanted to know about AT-ATs can be found [here.](http://www.theforce.net/swtc/walkers.html#atat) They estimate the height of an AT-AT to be 22.6 meters, or 74 feet. Luke fell from about half that height, which works out to around 3 stories. A rope would work, and the site mentions that among other methods, but I still wouldn’t want to fall that far. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/83 "2005-06-17T14:06:16Z")
The problem is that we have never seen the AT-ATs used as transports. I just figured that troopers repelling down would work. How high are helicopters when soldiers do today? I also don’t see why the AT-AT couldn’t kneel down like a camel (other than they may move too slow). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/84 "2005-06-17T14:18:44Z")
> [@don Jaime](#): > > Doesn’t work. AT-ATs are gigantic, much larger than the two-man snowspeeders, apparently even bigger than the _Millenium Falcon_. TIEs are puny one-man fighters and should go under the shield easily. Of course, nothing comes easily in _Star Wars_. My theory on Star Wars-physics shields is that they’re designed to stop stuff traveling faster than a certain speed. Lasers and other projectiles as well as high-speed ships would be stopped, but a human or a walker could pass through easily. Note that they had to drop the shields to allow the transports and X-Wings to get through. It’s sort of like the difference between getting into a pool via the steps or via a high-dive bellyflop. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/85 "2005-06-17T14:31:02Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > My theory on Star Wars-physics shields is that they’re designed to stop stuff traveling faster than a certain speed. Lasers and other projectiles as well as high-speed ships would be stopped, but a human or a walker could pass through easily. Note that they had to drop the shields to allow the transports and X-Wings to get through. Good point. In TPM the droid army was able to walk through the shield that was protecting the Jar-Jars. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/86 "2005-06-17T14:56:08Z")
> [@Ezekiel25:17](#): > > TIEs can fly in atmo, but they don’t perform as well. X-Wings are also negatively affected by atmosphere, but not nearly as much. It’s mentioned more than once in the EU that the TIEs, which are faster and more manuverable in space, are far inferior to the X-Wing in air. Seems that those solar panels on TIE fighters would be especially susceptible to harsh winds. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/87 "2005-06-17T15:02:26Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Not that it’s cannon, but in the Game “Force Commander”. the walkers are loaded onto cargo barges aboard the star destoryer, which takes them to the planet and unloads them. > > So, yeah, dropships. I assumed something as much before I played the game. As far as the AT-STs are concerned, from playing Rogue Squadron II on the Gamecube it seems like they’re loaded into barges and then a trooper transport ship (as seen in the special edition of ANH) takes them to the planet’s surface where they unload. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/88 "2005-06-17T15:06:28Z")
> [@lno](#): > > it’s Han trying to BS the farm kid, et cetera — but before that, the questioner should realize, _if he hasn’t already_, that there’s likely very little authorial intent behind it, and that the discussion won’t answer that whereas it could try to make some sense out of it another way. The look Obi Wan (ex-fighter pilot) gives Solo when he mentions the Kessel run shows you its BS, Solo then has to back down and just says, “Yeah, its fast enough for you” (or words to that effect) realising his bluff was called 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/89 "2005-06-17T15:21:11Z")
> [@Ezekiel25:17](#): > > TIEs can fly in atmo, but they don’t perform as well. X-Wings are also negatively affected by atmosphere, but not nearly as much. It’s mentioned more than once in the EU that the TIEs, which are faster and more manuverable in space, are far inferior to the X-Wing in air. I’d think the X-Wings would be made for atmospheric flight. Wings are useless in space except maybe to keep the blasters at a nice wide area. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/90 "2005-06-17T15:25:48Z")
The manual for my copy of X-Wing on the PC (which is canon!) stated that the wings are used to house directional thrusters, whether or not they have any aerodynamic advantages is never shown. ---
**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 17, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/91 "2005-06-17T15:31:22Z")
> [@Ezekiel25:17](#): > > I don’t think the cold would have been an issue for either craft (TIEs or X-Wings) since they operate fine in space, but the weather systems might have been so severe as to cause problems. The speeders, which were NOT designed for space, needed to be adapted for the cold, but once adapted, they were better suited to battle the walkers. Cold would actually be a much larger problem on a planet than it would in space. Heat needs a medium to conduct it away from an object. In a vacuum, there’s nothing to conduct the heat away, so objects would tend to retain heat better than they would in a sub-zero atmosphere. A ship designed to protect against the rigors of space is not necessarily protected from freezing planetary conditions. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173/92 "2005-06-17T18:01:32Z")
Also, in a cold atmosphere you have the potential for ice forming on various surfaces, causing mechanical problems. As for X-Wings, the wings aren’t shaped or placed properly to provide aerodynamic lift; they’re flat, too far back, and too small. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/esb-the-battle-of-hoth/308173.md?page=4)