# The Deathstar thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978 "2010-03-02T09:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/21 "2010-03-05T09:26:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If the Empire was smart, the rebels wouldn’t have had the time for any attack. The rebel base was on one of Yavin’s moons, but when the Death Star got there, Yavin was in the way. They waited while they went around Yavin until they had a clear shot at the moon. Why? They’ve got a gun that can blow up a freakin’ planet. If Yavin is in the way, boom. Once the dust clears, if there’s anything left of the moon, boom, again. I know that they took out alderaan , but that sounded like it was a normal M class planet, taking out a jovian might have caused problems of its own. At the very least it may have allowed some sort of evac, even if it was just the few people and leaders that they could have thrown on shuttles. A huge debris field may have had them hold their fire till they seen the whites of the rebs eyes. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/22 "2010-03-05T10:08:10Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > I have to wonder, should that torpedo that luke fired have destroyed the death star 1 outright. I get that it was supposed to start a chain reaction that would destroy the station, and yet I’m a bit skeptical that what ever that torpedo hit, would not automatically scram the reactors and at most require a few months in the repair yard. Power sources in the SW universe must be quite absurdly concentrated, by our standards - the Death Star going Boom on destroying the reactor is understandable - what’s a bit of a mystery is why other things like light sabres don’t go Boom when they are severely damaged. Droids too - some of those do go Boom, but maybe not as much as they ought to. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/23 "2010-03-05T14:38:44Z")
I still like my pet theory that that unnamed pilot was some clever Imperial agent making a sneaky getaway in all the confusion. I misremember-how did Leia get the first plans? ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/24 "2010-03-05T19:21:53Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > The thing is, in-universe everyone agrees that without some kind of million-to-one shot to make, obviously small [one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16_Fighting_Falcon#Specifications_.28F-16C_Block_30.29) or [two-man fighters](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-15E_Strike_Eagle#Specifications_.28F-15E.29) couldn’t _possibly_ carry a weapon [big enough to cause serious damage to a large installation](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B83_nuclear_bomb). [Tell me about it.](http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/bgm-34b.jpg) For that matter, do we have an in-universe explanation of why you couldn’t just aim a ship at the Death Star, then jump to hyperspace? It seems obvious enough, and I know little enough about FTL travel in the SW universe, that I imagine someone’s come up with something official by now on why “blowing a wormhole though something at 50x _c_” wouldn’t work as a combat strategy. ---
**Author:** ![MeDrewNotYou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@MeDrewNotYou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeDrewNotYou)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/25 "2010-03-05T19:30:47Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > I know that they took out alderaan , but that sounded like it was a normal M class planet, taking out a jovian might have caused problems of its own. At the very least it may have allowed some sort of evac, even if it was just the few people and leaders that they could have thrown on shuttles. A huge debris field may have had them hold their fire till they seen the whites of the rebs eyes. > > Declan I don’t think its out of the question that the Death Star doesn’t have the power to blow up a gas giant. Assuming Yavin is the size/mass of Jupiter, and Alderaan is Earth, Yavin is ~315x the mass of Alderaan and 11x the radius. The superlaser also might have issues with the huge layer of clouds and liquid hydrogen outside the ‘solid’ section; going through tens of thousands of kilometers of atmosphere would likely dissipate the laser’s energy a lot more than a few hundred km of atmosphere. Finally, the size might present an issue when Yavin blows up, since there’s a bunch more stuff flying around to damage the station (even if it has shields, they can only take so much). Granted, the Empire has weapons [capable of destroying stars,](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Sun_Crusher) but the Sun Crusher uses a solid projectile to disrupt the star’s reactions, not a beam susceptible to dissipation. > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I still like my pet theory that that unnamed pilot was some clever Imperial agent making a sneaky getaway in all the confusion. > > I misremember-how did Leia get the first plans? Bothan spies. [Here’s the more complete version though.](http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Death_star_plans#The_Rebel_Alliance_acquires_the_plans) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/26 "2010-03-05T19:58:53Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > … > I misremember-how did Leia get the first plans? I believe she “entertained” an imperial technician, if you know what i mean. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/27 "2010-03-05T23:52:41Z")
> [@Declan](#): > > In the movies prior to Return, nope never mentioned at all. The extended universe has some stuff, but I really don’t want to involve matters outside the films. If what you say is true, which I know it is in real life, then there is at least a third Death Star, if George ever decides to make the next part of the series. > > Declan God forbid. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/28 "2010-03-06T04:28:47Z")
Would a nuke have had any effect whatsoever? We don’t actually know what the Death Star is made of or what they were firing at it. For all we know, those blaster shots that could just barely destroy surface installations were actually matter-antimatter charges carefully shaped to focus virtually all of their detonation energy into the target upon impact. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/29 "2010-03-08T04:48:16Z")
Wait, wait, wait, so are you telling me that the species the “It’s a trap!” guy belongs to is called the Moncalamari? Seriously? Who’s fucking brilliant idea was it to call the squid lookin guys calamari? I literally loled when I slowly figured out who the hell you were talking about. Was this in the movies is or is it an expanded universe thing? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978/30 "2010-03-08T07:59:32Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Would a nuke have had any effect whatsoever? We don’t actually know what the Death Star is made of or what they were firing at it. For all we know, those blaster shots that could just barely destroy surface installations were actually matter-antimatter charges carefully shaped to focus virtually all of their detonation energy into the target upon impact. I think you would have to read the new BSG threads on nukes in space. Nukes would have localized blast effect with no radiation that a planetary ground strike would. Make big craters but no outright destruction. Declan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-deathstar-thread/530978.md?page=1)