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Author	Topic: The Death Star's odd navigation
rsterling78 Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 1/20 9:13pm Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation
	The Death Star I obviously had the ability to travel through hyperspace. It wouldn't be much of a threat if it could only travel at sublight between star systems. So in ANH, the Death Star presumably travels via hyperspace at the equivalent of many, many times the speed of light on its way to the Yavin system. Then, once at Yavin, it takes 30 minutes to get the Death Star clear of Yavin so it can destroy Yavin IV and the Rebel base along with it? Why would that be? It's not like the orbits of moons and planets are unpredictable. Even with modern-day Earth's comparatively primitive science and technology we can tell you with great accuracy the position of Titan or Venus or Phobos 100 years hence. Surely the navigational crew on the Death Star would have known when and where to bring the station out of hyperspace so it would immediately have a clear shot at Yavin IV.
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Grand_Moff_Jawa Registered: May '01	Date Posted: 1/20 9:16pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Yeah, the OT isn't perfect. -----signature----- "I can't abide those Jawas... disgusting creatures"! - C3PO This sig line is [FABULOUSO!] www.outerrimsieges.com "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." -- Carl Sagan
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jedimasterbac Title: CT and Fan Design Manager Registered: Jun '04	Date Posted: 1/20 10:38pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	rsterling78 posted: Surely the navigational crew on the Death Star would have known when and where to bring the station out of hyperspace so it would immediately have a clear shot at Yavin IV. That may work in Star Trek, but not Star Wars. Wookieepedia posted: When moving at speeds many times the speed of light, there were many dangers. While any collision or interference at this state can be potentially fatal, the effects of gravitational pull on a starship could be particularly devastating, thus a course had to be plotted outside the 'mass shadow' or gravity well of large celestial bodies That basically means it had to exit hyperspace far from a planet in order to avoid any possible destruction due to gravimetric interference. -----signature----- Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One (my fan fic) http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/30225011/p1/?3
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MikeSweet Registered: Jan '09	Date Posted: 1/20 10:48pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	When Tarkin is informed of the Death Star's arrival he is told: "We are approaching the planet Yavin, the Rebel base is on the moon on the far side". Surely he had been informed earlier about Yavin, but the second half of the sentence implies that the precise location of the base had only just been ascertained, otherwise he would have simply said something like what Tarkin was informed of in the scene after the Rebel briefing: "orbiting...at maximum velocity, the moon with the Rebel base will be in range in 30 minutes". Given that the device used to track the Falcon was a homing "beacon", and with the vast distances involved, the scenario is certainly quite plausible.
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Grand_Moff_Jawa Registered: May '01	Date Posted: 1/21 9:50am Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation - Date Edited: 1/21 9:52am (1 edits total) Edited By: Grand_Moff_Jawa
	There may have been other planets around Yavin and the homing beacon didn't narrow it down enough for the Imperials to know exactly which planet the rebels were on. /\ \|\| \|\| \|\| Oops! What he said! -----signature----- "I can't abide those Jawas... disgusting creatures"! - C3PO This sig line is [FABULOUSO!] www.outerrimsieges.com "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." -- Carl Sagan
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CaptainYossarian Registered: Mar '03	Date Posted: 1/21 10:37am Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	It's fairly likely that the Imperials don't know where the Falcon is going, they just either follow it until it stops or monitor it from a distance until it stops and then go to where it is. They didn't know where that was until they got there and it happened that the DS was on the wrong side of the planet and so had to orbit it to get a clear shot at the moon. You could say that the DS could've done that more quickly if they'd just done a couple of extra hyperspace jumps to get to the other side. There could be technical reasons why they didn't do that though, perhaps it would've used too much power that they needed for the superlaser or maybe it was too difficult to navigate the DS for such a small manoeuvre so they didn't bother. It could also be that Tarkin decided not to just get it over with quickly because he wanted the Rebels to try attacking the DS, thus proving how invulnerable it was. -----signature----- "Orr would be crazy to fly any more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to.
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rich-narco Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 1/21 3:25pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	might have been more difficult to plot - the "moon" is on the far side of planet from DS start point.... I guess it just worked out that way.....
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obi-arin-kenobi Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 1/22 3:54pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	rsterling78 posted: The Death Star I obviously had the ability to travel through hyperspace. It wouldn't be much of a threat if it could only travel at sublight between star systems. So in ANH, the Death Star presumably travels via hyperspace at the equivalent of many, many times the speed of light on its way to the Yavin system. Then, once at Yavin, it takes 30 minutes to get the Death Star clear of Yavin so it can destroy Yavin IV and the Rebel base along with it? Why would that be? It's not like the orbits of moons and planets are unpredictable. Even with modern-day Earth's comparatively primitive science and technology we can tell you with great accuracy the position of Titan or Venus or Phobos 100 years hence. Surely the navigational crew on the Death Star would have known when and where to bring the station out of hyperspace so it would immediately have a clear shot at Yavin IV. Look at it like this, man. The reason we don't see the Emperor till the very end is because, truth be told, he's the one actually moving the death star around. Why waste screen time on Palpatines backed up face? It's not till Luke arrives, the most powerful force in the galaxy, that he decides to get off the crapper.
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GrandAdmiral_Frank Registered: Aug '03	Date Posted: 1/23 1:17am Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Someone has already explained the DS's navigation but also keep in mind that Tarkin is really excited with his new technological terror and he, like a kid on Christmas, just wants to use it. He probably had a scene off camera where he was laughing diabolically about how close the DS was coming to destroying them. -----signature----- Member of the Han Solo and Chewbacca FanClub Member of the TFF Winner of the PT Rewrite Challenge Four "Don't make me destroy you"-Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back
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VadersLaMent Registered: Apr '02	Date Posted: 2/9 7:24pm Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Between stars, not much going on. Within a solar system, quite a few more obstacles going on. -----signature----- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic-Arthur C. Clarke Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God-Michael Shermer I'm a sexy shoeless GOD OF WAR! #347 on SLG's List Of Sexy Men
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darthhelinith Registered: Feb '09	Date Posted: 2/10 4:41am Subject: RE: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Its also possible that they couldn't get in range of the moon because getting too close might have caused the Death Star to be pulled into orbit. Or possibly disrupted the orbits of the surrounding planets. That thing is huge and probably would have "picked up" its own share of space junk if it had lasted much longer. PS- don't cut me up too much if im wrong, I don't really get physics. -----signature----- Inquisitor and personal tool of HIM and HER in the SWC Empire Sith Warrior in the Acolytes of Darkness Glamourously Beautiful and Dazzling e-wife of Rev Darth Vader is my Dad. JC Musketeer!! En Guarde!
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Alpha-Red Registered: Apr '04	Date Posted: 3/25 8:14pm Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Honestly, is thirty minutes really such a horribly long time to wait out? Even the most impatient Imperial commander on board would have said "wow, 30 minutes and it'll all be over". Well, it was over....just not for the Rebels.
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rsterling78 Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 3/25 10:52pm Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Alpha-Red posted: Honestly, is thirty minutes really such a horribly long time to wait out? Even the most impatient Imperial commander on board would have said "wow, 30 minutes and it'll all be over". Well, it was over....just not for the Rebels. Here's what would have happened if Tarkin hadn't been so patient: LINK
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TwiLekJedi Title: Classic Trilogy Manager Registered: Jun '01	Date Posted: 3/26 6:18am Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation
	but the Death Star I needs 24 hours to recha- oh, who cares -----signature----- We do what we must Because we can For the good of all of us Except the ones who are dead
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General_BlackLegion Registered: Apr '04	Date Posted: 3/26 7:55am Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation - Date Edited: 3/26 7:59am (2 edits total) Edited By: General_BlackLegion
	TwiLekJedi posted: but the Death Star I needs 24 hours to recha- oh, who cares One of its many flaws that was not accounted for... Also, destroying Yavin IV might have serious brought issues with both sides. Literally exploding a gas giant will wipe out the Rebels AND the Death Star... So if Tarkin wasn't impatient, he will just bring his doom earlier albeit succeeding his objective at the same time and causing severe inter-solar problems... Therefore Tarkin needed to find the moon and the base exactly and just blow up the moon with it's one shot every 24 hour smitten... -----signature----- I socially dislike Lord_Vivec. I am still changing my posting habits, so don't mind me Sir (or Madam)! Biologists with Pistols > Military Forecasters with Rifles.
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TwiLekJedi Title: Classic Trilogy Manager Registered: Jun '01	Date Posted: 3/26 9:55am Subject: The Death Star's odd navigation
	Yavin Prime, Yavin 4 is the moon that would have been perfectly safe to blow up -----signature----- We do what we must Because we can For the good of all of us Except the ones who are dead
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