There is no question that the last few twelvemonth of world chronicle have seen a fair share of pandemonium and disorder . With so much global fermentation , governments worldwide are struggling to formulate fresh method to maintain order . The Galactic Empire ’s solution to order is theDeath Star .
just put , the Death Star is the most ambitiousspace stationproject in Galactic history . It takes more than a million military personnel to go this station , which is the sizing of a little Sun Myung Moon .
But the Death Star is no moon . Despite its size of it , the Death Star can still go at superluminal velocities just like spacecraft with only a fraction of its multitude . But the real power and purpose of the Death Star lies in itsSuperlaser . The Death Star ’s Superlaser is capable of firing a beam of engineer energy powerful enough to completely destruct a planet of any size of it ! Needless to say , nothing quells topsy-turvydom and upset faster than the threat of total planetary disintegration .
The Death Star represents the absolute pinnacle of military technology and engineering . In this clause HowStuffWorks will look at the Death Star inside and out , probe the enthralling history behind this knock-down military and political tool , discover other embodiment of the Death Star and learn about what really happens when you blow up a planet .
Death Star Basics
The Death Star ’s principal intention is to function as a mobile program for its main weapon - the Superlaser . The Death Star ’s structure is essentially an tremendous housing for the Superlaser and the nuclear reactor that powers it .
It takes a luck of technicians to operate and maintain the Superlaser . And although it ’s the most powerful weapon in the galaxy , it ’s completely defenceless if attacked straightaway . So the Superlaser also needs military financial support to fend for it . To address these issues , the designer of the Death Star equipped this tremendous housing to service two purposes : It is both a mobile weapon platform and a fully operable struggle place .
Of naturally in decree for the Death Star to be a tangible threat , it has to be nomadic . To accomplish this the Death Star features a complex net of real - outer space ion engines and hyperdrive field generators that grant it to travel like any other interstellar space craft .
So basically the Death Star is made of four major constituent : thebattle place , theSuperlaser , thepropulsion systemand thehypermatter reactorthat power it all . get ’s look at all of these components .
The Death Star Surface
In the original blueprint , the Death Star evaluate 120 kilometers ( roughly 75 miles ) in diameter . A immense equatorial trench splits the control surface of the post into two hemispheres . This oceanic abyss is used to house many of the Death Star ’s primary system :
In plus to the main oceanic abyss there are two subsidiary trench halfway between the equator and each pole that are used mostly for upkeep and petty nuclear reactor ventilation .
There are thou of weapons emplacements scattered all across the Death Star ’s surface , including :
Most of the surface of the Death Star is covered with building of varying size and purpose , so that it closely resemble a sprawling metropolis . Now let ’s look indoors .
Inside the Death Star
Most of the outer space inside the Death Star is devoted to systems required to maintain the Superlaser , propulsion organization and hypermatter nuclear reactor . Of course the largest space is the chief reactor chamber at the core of the Death Star . The rest of the DoI is made up of a honeycomb of decks for personnel and equipment . This distance is design with two separate layouts each with a dissimilar source and orientation course of stilted gravity .
The " layer " closest to the airfoil is laid out in a series of concentric decks with artificial somberness generators pointing towards the Death Star ’s essence . Below this are thousands of levels of sprawl stack decks dotted with vast , deep shafts that all link to the nuclear reactor ’s main sleeping room . This section of the Death Star makes up the bulk of the interior and has gravity pointing toward the station ’s southerly pole .
The two interior sections of the Death Star are divided into 24 zone , 12 per hemisphere . Each zona is organized into six sectors :
All the sector are run by an officer who answers to azone captain , who command his or her geographical zone from azone bridgework . The entire Death Star command structure suffice to one Death Star Commander . The Commander operates from the overbridge . The overbridge is the nerve center of the Death Star and is located just above the top edge of the Superlaser peach . Governor Tarkinwas playacting commander of the first Death Star . The station ’s military force fell under the instruction ofGeneral Tagge(ground power ) andAdmiral Motti(naval forces ) .
The Superlaser
If you ’ve ever burn a leaf with a magnify glass you understand the canonic principle behind the Superlaser . When a magnifying glass is held at the correct slant between the Sunday and a leaf , the sunray are sharpen through the lens . These rays intersect under the crystalline lens and at the point of intersection a electron beam of heat is created that burns the foliage . The sun is the source of power and the electron lens is the focus .
The Superlaser has a monolithic lens built around a huge synthetical concentrate crystal . The lens is sleep with as " the Eye " and is surrounded by eight tributary lasers . There are also four back up lasers in case any of the main eight tributaries give out . All of the tributary lasers can be angled for place . This allow the Death Star to aim the Superlaser within a sealed field of fire without having to plough the total post . The master cannon and eight tributary laser ardor beam that converge at the prohibited circumference of the Superlaser ravisher in anamplification nexus . A primary ray of light then blasts from the nexus to the intended target .
The Death Star ’s Superlaser derives power immediately from the hypermatter reactor . The optical maser convert and concentrate the full power of the nuclear reactor to create the shaft . So going back to our overstate looking glass example , the Superlaser is like a serial of large magnifying glasses concentre the entire power of the reactor ( which is like a small sun ) into one huge beam to destroy a satellite , rather than a few rays of light to combust a folio .
Firing the Superlaser
There have only been two instances where the Death Star fired its Superlaser at full mightiness while targeting a worldwide body . The Death Star ’s first exam firing destroy the outside and uninhabited planetDespayre . The first Death Star was built in arena around Despayre , create it an idealistic pick to try the Superlaser ’s power as well as destroy the evidence of the Death Star ’s construction . The 2d instance was the highly bare destruction ofAlderaan .
The Superlaser ’s power needs to be recharge between blasts , limiting it to only one planet - destroy beam per day . The output of the Superlaser can however be scaled to arouse at smaller target such as capital ship . The Superlaser can bring out a scaled ray at a recharge rate of one per minute .
It takes 168 Imperial gunner to operate the Superlaser . There are 14 gunners manning each confluent laser while the stay crew operate other systems . The Superlaser can only be provoke under direct orders from the station commander or the Emperor himself .
Power and Propulsion
The expectant challenge in designing the Death Star was not creating a cannon openhanded enough to fire a beam that could destruct a planet , nor was it creating a battle post the size of a pocket-size moonlight . The greatest challenge was alwayspoweringa cannon big enough to burn down a beam that could demolish a planet andmovinga fight station the size of it of a diminished moon . The solvent to both of these problems was clear with the design of the hypermatter reactor .
The hypermatter reactor is the heart of the Death Star . The Death Star ’s hypermatter core is based for the most part on earlySienar Systemshypermatter implosion core that was the power reservoir of the Confederacy of Independent Systems’Great Weapon(the early stirring for the Death Star – more on this later ) . piffling is actually known about the details of the highly classified reactor design , but we do know that it is a massive nuclear fusion nuclear reactor feed by stellar fuel feeding bottle that line the periphery of the main nuclear reactor chamber .
The Death Star ’s actual - space actuation system is made up of a internet of ion engines that use convertor to metamorphose nuclear reactor power into thrust . The locomotive thrusters are in the main line along the equator of the station .
Hyperspace travel is made possible with connect banks of hyperdrive field generators . Each money box contains 123 hyperdrive field generators . They are all tied together into one navigational matrix that is controlled from the overbridge .
Life on the Death Star
It takes more than a million citizenry to manoeuver the Death Star and there is way for over a billion mass on board . There are always at least 1,161,293 imperial beard stationed on the Death Star at any given time . The received complement of force include :
The place also expect :
tour of duty on the Death Star last at least 180 days and ordinarily much longer . Personnel are often in deep infinite without farewell for months at a time , and since the emplacement of the Death Star is always classified , tangency with family or friend is rigorously proscribe . This can make life on the Death Star very hard . To still the onus of this duty the station is fit out with many civilian amenities . The general sector of each zona in the Death Star has a park , shopping centers and recreation areas that include eatery , a movie theatre and fittingness centre .
Death Star History
The Death Star battle post was the inspiration of Imperial bigwig Grand Moff Tarkin . It was the centrepiece of Tarkin’sDoctrine of Fearproposal that created sweeping reform in the structure of the Empire . It was also the final step in solidify the Emperor ’s full authority .
The large change to the Empire made by the Doctrine of Fear was the dissolution of the Imperial Senate . Tarkin ’s insurance policy put power straight off in the hands of the regional governor . The governors , who ruled over several planetary systems , now answered directly to the Emperor under the Doctrine of Fear . This new organisation greatly boil down the bureaucracy in the Empire and greatly increase the power of regional regulator like Tarkin .
opposer to the Doctrine of Fear ( and there were many in the Empire ) claimed that this new policy would rend the Empire asunder and that planets would revolt without direct representation in the Senate . Tarkin ’s answer to any likely dissonance was the Death Star .
Tarkin intended to make an example of a rebellious system of rules as soon as the Death Star was capable . He believed that after the total obliteration of a planet , fear would distribute throughout the wandflower and preserve order .
The exploitation and twist of the Death Star had begun long before the first debate ever contract place about the Doctrine of Fear . In fact , the Doctrine of Fear was ratified by the Emperor the very same day the 2d successful discharge of the Death Star demolish the satellite of Alderrann .
Visionary scientists and engineers likeQwi Xux , Tol SivronandBevel Lemeliskwere conscripted by the Empire to develop the blank space station . They all worked in a top secret facility , code - named Maw , hidden deeply in one of the most inhospitable regions of the galaxy . A image Death Star was built at Maw but was little more than a spherical frame with an untested Superlaser . It was much smaller than the Death Star would finally be and had no actuation system .
The construction form of the Death Star task took place in orbit around the planet Despayre and was primarily handled by defense contracting troupe Sienar Systems . Sienar had worked on a prototype of a similar quad station many years earlier for the CIS , was contracted by Tarkin to do work on the Death Star project . ( It should also be noted that Sienar Systems CEO Raith Sienar was " coincidently " an old champion of Grand Moff Tarkin ) .
For years , the Empire used prison house labor to mine Despayre for materials . prison house laborer also handled the more lowly and grave prospect of the place ’s construction .
The inspiration for the Death Star came from a breakaway super - weapon system shout out theGreat Weapon . The Great Weapon was a moon sized - place station with a large laser shank developed by the Trade Federation , Geonosians , and Techno - Union for usance in their warfare against the Old Republic . It was never put to use and was captured by the newly formed Empire after the Clone Wars . The Great Weapon was never make out .
The original Death Star was destruct in the Battle of Yavin by rebel pilot program Luke Skywalker . Skywalker give notice a proton torpedo into a reactor release ray . The ensue chain reaction caused a decisive overburden of the reactor , destroy the total station and killing everyone aboard .
Death Star II
After the destruction of the first Death Star , the Empire immediately began building a second Death Star . Death Star II was placed under the control of Moff Jerjerrod and was a expectant ( 160 km/99.5 miles in diameter ) more powerful version of its precursor .
Many of the invention flaw of the first Death Star were correct in Death Star II , including its Achilles cad – the thermic exhaust fumes ports . or else of relying on several large vent port that lead now to the post ’s main reactor , Death Star II was project with connection of variably weight millimeter - wide heat dispersion ducts . This design made it out of the question for a missile to reach the reactor via the vent-hole system .
Another dearly-won oversight was castigate in the layout of the newfangled post defenses . The original Death Star was only design to repel an fire from large capital ships . Because of " open " last casting to catch assailant , Rebel fighter were able to easily penetrate the Death Star ’s defense grid . The intent of Death Star II almost duplicate its airfoil refutation and triangulated them so that both Capitol Building ships and fighters could well be gun down .
Death Star II was designed with :
The Death Star II also boast a expectant and more powerful Superlaser that was capable of evoke more ofttimes and more accurately .
Death Star II was under construction in orbit around the forest moonlight of Endor . While under grammatical construction , the new Death Star was protected by a large energy shield , projected from the nearby moon . Despite this , the Rebel Alliance destroyed the bare Death Star II in the Battle of Endor .
So What Happens if You Blow Up a Planet?
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the Death Star . Besides the obvious proceeds associate with destroy an entire planet , there are also the concerns for the effects that the end of a planet would have on other major planet in the same system .
So what does hap to other planet in the same system as a major planet that is completely destroyed by the Death Star ?
To answer this question HowStuffWorks extend toF. Todd Baker , Physics Professor at the University of Georgia Department of Physics And Astronomy . Here was his answer :
Regarding the moonshine of a planet , the subsequent motion would be determined by what happens to the debris from the planet . Of course the " devastation " of a planet does not signify that its mass melt , it is just redistributed . A couple of scenario :
For more information on the Death Star and relate topics , discipline out the linkup that come .
