# Question About The Death Star **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981 "2015-02-18T06:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Winkler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@The\_Winkler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Winkler)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/1 "2015-02-18T06:47:43Z")
I’ve never understood how it traveled through the galaxy. But it made it from Alderan to Yavin just behind the Millennium Falcon. It’s a space station shaped like a planet, not a starship. Did it travel like the Tardis? Or perhaps just more evidence that Lucas was clueless. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/2 "2015-02-18T06:56:50Z")
Who says a starship can’t be shaped like a planet? ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/3 "2015-02-18T06:58:06Z")
Sorry, to answer your question: “Through hyperspace, just like every other FTL vehicle in the series.” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/4 "2015-02-18T06:58:07Z")
Space is a vacuum so it doesn’t matter how your ship is shaped, and yes the Death Star was equipped with a hyper drive that lets it travel faster than normal propulsion. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/5 "2015-02-18T06:58:46Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > I’ve never understood how it traveled through the galaxy. But it made it from Alderan to Yavin just behind the Millennium Falcon. It’s a space station shaped like a planet, not a starship. > > Did it travel like the Tardis? Or perhaps just more evidence that Lucas was clueless. Why would the shape matter? 😕 If they have the technology for it to travel through hyperspace, it’ll travel through hyperspace. The only other thing it needs is sufficient power. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/6 "2015-02-18T07:01:26Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Space is a vacuum so it doesn’t matter how your ship is shaped, and yes the Death Star was equipped with a hyper drive that lets it travel faster than normal propulsion. In fairness, “space” in the Star Wars universe does not appear to be a vacuum. I like to think that luminferous aether turned out to be a real thing after all. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/7 "2015-02-18T08:04:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > In fairness, “space” in the Star Wars universe does not appear to be a vacuum. It doesn’t? What gives you that idea? ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/8 "2015-02-18T08:13:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > In fairness, “space” in the Star Wars universe does not appear to be a vacuum. > > I like to think that luminferous aether turned out to be a real thing after all. Don’t you mean used to be a real thing :)? I join the other poster who seem relatively undisturbed about this - if the Idea of the Death Star moving is what made you think “hey this seems a little unrealistic” - then - oh - I don’t really have a rest of that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/9 "2015-02-18T08:29:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > It doesn’t? What gives you that idea? Well, there’s sound, and all the spacecraft bank as if there were air… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/10 "2015-02-18T11:37:06Z")
> [@Red\_Barchetta](#): > > Well, there’s sound, and all the spacecraft bank as if there were air… Guess the TIE fighter pilots won’t need that oxygen, then… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/11 "2015-02-18T12:50:09Z")
That’s one thing that bugged me about ROTJ: the Emperor may have said that the station was “fully operational”, but it wasn’t, really - it certainly couldn’t generate its own shields, and we can pretty much assume that its hyperdrive wasn’t working yet, either. The sole fully operational part of it was the main gun, and even there, the only thing we saw it destroy was a cruiser. There was nothing to indicate that it was capable yet of taking out a planet. As usual, Palpatine was full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/12 "2015-02-18T13:48:08Z")
> [@The\_Winkler](#): > > I’ve never understood how it traveled through the galaxy. But it made it from Alderan to Yavin just behind the Millennium Falcon. It’s a space station shaped like a planet, not a starship. It’s called a station because it’s freaking huge and perhaps was intended to mostly sit in one place, but it clearly has a hyperdrive – how else would they get it to the latest rebellious planet that needs to be blown up as a warning to others? > [@Alessan](#): > > That’s one thing that bugged me about ROTJ: the Emperor may have said that the station was “fully operational”, but it wasn’t, really - it certainly couldn’t generate its own shields, and we can pretty much assume that its hyperdrive wasn’t working yet, either. The sole fully operational part of it was the main gun, and even there, the only thing we saw it destroy was a cruiser. There was nothing to indicate that it was capable yet of taking out a planet. > > As usual, Palpatine was full of shit. He was trying to convince Luke to come to the Dark Side. His pitch wouldn’t be as effective if he admitted that much of the Dark Side’s military power wouldn’t come online until it was installed on Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/13 "2015-02-18T14:00:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That’s one thing that bugged me about ROTJ: the Emperor may have said that the station was “fully operational”, but it wasn’t, really - it certainly couldn’t generate its own shields, and we can pretty much assume that its hyperdrive wasn’t working yet, either. The sole fully operational part of it was the main gun, and even there, the only thing we saw it destroy was a cruiser. There was nothing to indicate that it was capable yet of taking out a planet. > > As usual, Palpatine was full of shit. I read that as, “As far as being able to incinerate an attacking force is concerned…” It did look a bit silly using the planet-destroying gun to swat mosquitoes, though… ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/14 "2015-02-18T14:42:37Z")
Technically, he says that it is “_fully armed_ and operational”. He means that it has all of it’s guns and they are working. The “fully” is modifying “armed” not both "armed’ and “operational”. The point being that the Rebels attacked when they did because the Emperor let them believe that the station was helpless beyond the shield. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/15 "2015-02-18T14:43:38Z")
Maybe it got towed. Or someone used Spice and just folded space. Or something very improbable happened. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/16 "2015-02-18T14:44:44Z")
Betcha Q is involved somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/17 "2015-02-18T14:45:41Z")
The line is ambiguous then. He could have meant either “operational and fully armed” or “fully armed and fully operational.” But in the context of his monologing, I suspect he meant the latter. A little premature hyperbole. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/18 "2015-02-18T14:50:22Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > It’s called a station because it’s freaking huge and perhaps was intended to mostly sit in one place, \ No, it was labeled that way to get around the legislative funding restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/19 "2015-02-18T14:52:45Z")
Superboy punched a wizard. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2015, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981/20 "2015-02-18T14:56:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > As usual, Palpatine was full of shit. YOU tell him! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-death-star/712981.md?page=2)