Difference between revisions of "Death Star"

Revision as of 23:58, 9 November 2007

The First Death Star

The Death Star is a moon-sized starship, one of the largest in the Star Wars universe. Armed with a terrifying superlaser capable of destroying an entire planet, regardless of defences, it was intended to be a symbol of 'control through fear' in the Tarkin Doctrine. The first Death Star was used by Grand Moff Tarkin to destroy Princess Leia's home planet of Alderaan.

Death Star Specifications

Diameter: 160km
Power Generation: Hypermatter reactor generating at least 1E33W
Hyperdrive Speed: Not as fast as the Millenium Falcon (need real data stat!)
Sublight Acceleration: >1,700Gs
Weapons: Main weapon yield approximately 1E38J
Recharge Time (Planet Scattering): less than 24 hours
Other Abilities:

Death Star 2 Specifications

The second Death Star in Return of the Jedi

Diameter: 900km
Power Generation: Hypermatter reactor
Hyperdrive Speed: Unknown
Sublight Acceleration: Unknown
Weapons:
Recharge Time (ISD-destroying): several minutes at maximum
Recharge Time (Planet Scattering): Unknown
Other Abilities: Off-Axis Firing

Historical Account

The plans for the Death Star were first mentioned in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Toward the end, as the Trade Federation leaders were fleeing Geonosis, Count Dooku was given the technical schematics which would later go on to become the Death Star I. These plans were taken by Count Dooku to Darth Sidious, the Sith lord. Full scale construction on the Death Star would not begin for many years, however. Practical application of so many new technologies required a great deal of research and development first.

Early development of the Death Star was slow and frequently hampered by ill-fated sabotage efforts. Many of those working on the project or aware of its existence doubted its completion. Effective research and development was not possible under the current work conditions. Moff Tarkin, in an effort to combat this fact, recruited or forced a small number of scientists to work on its development in a new installation set in the middle of a cluster of black holes, the Maw installation. It was here that the many breakthroughs necessary for the completion of the Death Star occurred, namely a fully operation superlaser.

After the completion and demonstration of a workable prototype of the Death Star in the Maw Cluster, Bevel Lemelisk, one of the main researchers and developers, took the plans to the Outer Rim world Despayre. The metal needed for the construction was mined from this world by slaves. Bevel Lemelisk then oversaw the construction of the first Death Star above Despayre. To mark its completion and test the superlaser, Despayre, the cradle world of the Death Star, was destroyed.

The Destruction of the First Death Star

Shortly after its completion and declassification, a rebel mercenary, Kyle Katarn, stole a set of the plans from the imperial data vault located on Denauta. These plans were transmitted to rebels on Toprawa. These plans were combined with similar data obtained by Keyan Farlander and other spies to produce a complete schematic of the Death Star.

After its use on Alderaan in an attempt to coerce the location of the Rebel base out of Princess Leia Organa, Darth Vader placed a tracking device on the Millenium Falcon, the ship used by Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Obi-wan Kenobi to board the Death Star, rescue Princess Leia, and escape. The Death Star followed this tracking signal to the Yavin system, where the Rebel base was located on Yavin IV. Using the schematics constructed from the data obtained by Kyle Katarn and Keyan Farlander, rebel strategists had found a weakness in the battle station: a small auxiliary exhaust port located under the larger main exhaust port. If a proton torpedo was shot into this port, it could follow it in a direct line to the hypermatter reactor located in the core of the Death Star. This would set off what has been described vaguely as a "chain reaction", destroying the Death Star. Whether this phrase refers to a chain reaction located solely within the reactor or one throughout all the systems of the Death Star is unknown. Many believe it refers solely to the reactor due to the instantaneous destruction of the Death Star, but no consensus has been reached, and no statement has been made by George Lucas or any of his affiliated companies.

Small snubfighters were launched in squadrons in an attack at the Death Star. To reach the exhaust port they were required to advance down a trench along the equator of the Death Star, after destroying shield towers which prevented entry. The vast majority of the pilots sent on this mission were shot down by turbolaser towers, opposing fighters, or Darth Vader himself, piloting an Advanced Tie. Luke Skywalker was eventually able to successfully make the shot, and the Death Star was destroyed, killing Tarkin and many of the political and military elite of the Empire.

The Second Death Star

I will soon write this section, unless someone beats me to it.

Calculations

The Death Star's main superlaser is shown in to be capable of destroying an entire planet. This feat requires, at the absolute minimum, that the gravitational binding energy of the planet be overcome by the power of the weapon. Further, a sufficiently higher quantity of energy must be added to ensure the pieces go far apart enough that they do not coalesce again. Finally, observation of the destruction of Alderaan shows that the planet explodes violently - at a significant fraction of 'c'.

Calculations for the lower-bound, and expected values.

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 == Historical Account ==
-The plans for the Death Star were first mentioned in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Toward the end, as the Trade Federation leaders were fleeing Geonosis, [[Count Dooku]] was given the technical schematics which would later go on to become the Death Star I. These plans were taken by Count Dooku to [[Darth Sidious]], the Sith lord. Toward the conclusion of Star Wars III, construction began a Death Star Prototype, overseen by the newly crowned Emperor Sidious, Darth Vader, and Moff Tarkin. This project culmintated 20 years later when the Death Star I was successfully tested against the heavily shielded core-world of [[The Alderaan Argument|Alderaan]]. Shortly after the destruction of Alderaan, the location of the Rebel Alliance's base was found, and the Death Star I's weapon was brought to bear on that planet. Moments before the superlaser would have fired, the Death Star I was then destroyed by the Rebel Alliance in [[The Battle of Yavin]] due to their exploitation of a minor design flaw.
+The plans for the Death Star were first mentioned in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Toward the end, as the Trade Federation leaders were fleeing Geonosis, [[Count Dooku]] was given the technical schematics which would later go on to become the Death Star I. These plans were taken by Count Dooku to [[Darth Sidious]], the Sith lord. Full scale construction on the Death Star would not begin for many years, however. Practical application of so many new technologies required a great deal of research and development first.
-== Construction Time ==
+Early development of the Death Star was slow and frequently hampered by ill-fated sabotage efforts. Many of those working on the project or aware of its existence doubted its completion. Effective research and development was not possible under the current work conditions. Moff Tarkin, in an effort to combat this fact, recruited or forced a small number of scientists to work on its development in a new installation set in the middle of a cluster of black holes, the Maw installation. It was here that the many breakthroughs necessary for the completion of the Death Star occurred, namely a fully operation superlaser.
-Shortly before the end of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, we witness Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine overseeing the early construction phase of the Death Star. A skeletal 'sphere' structure, of about the right size, is seen floating in space. It is an impressive display of technical prowess that they could complete construction of a moon-sized scaffolding so quickly.
+After the completion and demonstration of a workable prototype of the Death Star in the Maw Cluster, Bevel Lemelisk, one of the main researchers and developers, took the plans to the Outer Rim world Despayre. The metal needed for the construction was mined from this world by slaves. Bevel Lemelisk then oversaw the construction of the first Death Star above Despayre. To mark its completion and test the superlaser, Despayre, the cradle world of the Death Star, was destroyed.
-By the time Star Wars IV begins, the Death Star I has been fully constructed and is operational. Since Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker were born toward the end of Star Wars III - around the same time as we see the moon-sized scaffolding - we can establish a lower-limit as to the amount of time needed to construct a fully-armed and operational Death Star, 19 years. Within the course of Star Wars IV, the Death Star I's primary weapon is tested and found to indeed be fully functional. However, due to a design flaw, the Death Star I is destroyed at the end of Star Wars IV. Given that the [[Tarkin Doctrine]] was still being followed at the time, it makes sense to assume that construction of the new Death Star II began immediately.
+== The Destruction of the First Death Star ==
-Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi is set four years after Star Wars IV. During that intervening period, the Empire is able to produce the partially-completed Death Star II that is seen in the image above. While only partially completed, it is capable of using its primary superlaser to destroy a planet, and capable of firing lower-power bursts from it's primary superlaser off-axis to destroy capital ships. In a quarter of the time it took to produce the first Death Star, which did not have quite as many capabilities, the Empire was able to produce a partially-completed Death Star II, with even more capabilities. It should be noted that the DS II was also more than 177 times the size of its predecessor in terms of volume, and so even that partially completed structure involved more actual construction than was done on the DS I in 20 years.
+Shortly after its completion and declassification, a rebel mercenary, Kyle Katarn, stole a set of the plans from the imperial data vault located on Denauta. These plans were transmitted to rebels on Toprawa. These plans were combined with similar data obtained by Keyan Farlander and other spies to produce a complete schematic of the Death Star.
+After its use on Alderaan in an attempt to coerce the location of the Rebel base out of Princess Leia Organa, Darth Vader placed a tracking device on the Millenium Falcon, the ship used by Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Obi-wan Kenobi to board the Death Star, rescue Princess Leia, and escape. The Death Star followed this tracking signal to the Yavin system, where the Rebel base was located on Yavin IV. Using the schematics constructed from the data obtained by Kyle Katarn and Keyan Farlander, rebel strategists had found a weakness in the battle station: a small auxiliary exhaust port located under the larger main exhaust port. If a proton torpedo was shot into this port, it could follow it in a direct line to the hypermatter reactor located in the core of the Death Star. This would set off what has been described vaguely as a "chain reaction", destroying the Death Star. Whether this phrase refers to a chain reaction located solely within the reactor or one throughout all the systems of the Death Star is unknown. Many believe it refers solely to the reactor due to the instantaneous destruction of the Death Star, but no consensus has been reached, and no statement has been made by George Lucas or any of his affiliated companies.
+Small snubfighters were launched in squadrons in an attack at the Death Star. To reach the exhaust port they were required to advance down a trench along the equator of the Death Star, after destroying shield towers which prevented entry. The vast majority of the pilots sent on this mission were shot down by turbolaser towers, opposing fighters, or Darth Vader himself, piloting an Advanced Tie. Luke Skywalker was eventually able to successfully make the shot, and the Death Star was destroyed, killing Tarkin and many of the political and military elite of the Empire.
+== The Second Death Star ==
+I will soon write this section, unless someone beats me to it.
 == Calculations ==