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Mmmm... Oola jerky.

 

Maybe a combination of different factors. Practice, as someone else wrote? Why not? Experience? More people/droids working on it? More money to spend? Keep in mind, the Empire was new at the end of ROTS while it had expanded a lot over the following years. So it would have accumulated much more resources. Also, who says they BEGAN construction on the 2nd DS only AFTER the first was destroyed? For all we know, they could have begun the 2nd one any time between ROTS and ANH. I haven't seen a canon source that directly contradicts this. We as an audience are only told in the opening crawl of ROTJ that there is now a 2nd DS. What we aren't told anywhere is how long they have been working on it.

Not so sure about that. He may have had a very basic story in mind but when it came to actually making the PT he didn't really have any concrete ideas. Here he seems pretty clueless when writing TPM:

 

I concur. And why is the second one that much bigger? What was wrong with DS I except for the thermal exhaust port? The original ANH materials hinted that Tarkin may have used the Death Star to become emperor himself. Not impossible that the Emperor secretly commissioned a second and stronger one just in case one of his top brass officers might get delusions of grandure.

 

Slow recharge time maybe. DS1 is portrayed (in both Legends and newcanon) as having a recharge time on the order of a day (after one full-power shot) - the DS2's is around 3 minutes. In the Rogue One novel, a point is made (in memo form) of how they want Galen to improve the recharge time - the current time is unacceptably long.

 

Who came up with that? Fact is that we never saw DS II fire at a planetary target, all we saw in ROJ were tiny shots (by Death Star standards) at capital Alliance ships.

However, "twice as powerful" (ROJ novelization) could also hint a faster recharge time.

 

For all we know, those "tiny shots" were at full power, and the only reason they don't look bigger is because the targets themselves were too small to release vast amounts of energy when they explode.

 

To crack a nut with a sledgehammer or Mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schiessen?


Here we get an idea of the different size between the Death Star and the moon of Endor.

So you seriously think the Death Star would fire the same kind of beam to destroy that moon at an Alliance ship much, much smaller than itself?

This is the Galactic Empire we are talking about, not the First Order.

 

It's true that, in Rogue One, there is "single reactor ignition" which does not blow up planets completely - and it's reasonable to conjecture from that, that all Death Stars had access to the ability to fire lower-power shots.

The Empire wanting the second Death Star to be even better at its job than the first though, is pretty well supported in newcanon tie-in media.

And the OT novelization, as well:

At the feathered edge of the galaxy, the Death Star floated in stationary orbit above the green moon Endor — a moon whose mother planet had long since died of unknown cataclysm and disappeared into unknown realms. The Death Star was the Empire's armoured battle station, nearly twice as big as its predecessor, which Rebel forces had destroyed so many years before — nearly twice as big, but more than twice as powerful. Yet it was only half complete.

 

No need to rely on NuCanon as the "twice as powerful" suggestion originates from the ROJ novelization - and could support my theory: Even if DS I fired first at DS II and made DS II shields collapse (which would in return fire at DS I and have its shield collapse), DS II could faster recharge than DS I and thus would destroy a DS I gone rogue.

 

Given that in Rogue One, the DS1's beam passes straight through Scarif's shield without affecting any of the planet's shield generators, causing them to overload, etc (the blue shield glow is still visible in the Tantive IV escape scene) I would guess that whichever Death Star fires first, wins.

However, in situations like the Hosnian system in TFA (lots of planets in one system, all possibly inhabited or the First Order wouldn't be trying to destroy them all at once) - a fast recharge time comes into its own.

 

I just realized that the speculations in my previous posts don't make a lot of sense so please feel free to disregard those. Had the second Death Star been constructed with the possible prospect of using it against the first one, it should have been ready by the time of ANH already. Moreover, it could have been used against planets suspected to support the Alliance according to the Tarkin Doctrine and the Alliance would have been gone after ANH.

Nevertheless I think @Sith Lord 2015 was on to something. The ROJ prologue emphasizes that the Empire "has secretly begun construction". So what does that imply? Wasn't already the first Death Star constructed "secretly"? The way I see it it could imply that DS II, indeed, was secretly constructed (unbeknownst even to top ranking Imperials). With the first Death Star the Empire put all its eggs in one basket, but sooner or later the Death Star (I) might have been taken out somehow, so it could seem that it was foresighted to eventually have a substitute ready.

 

Something I wanted to add to my latest speculation. The very first draft of ROJ from June 1981 began with this prologue (illustrated by Ralph McQuarrie):

The Rebellion is doomed. Spies loyal
to the Old Republic have reported
several new armored space stations
under construction by the Empire.


I think that clearly indicated that the Emperor (or George Lucas) felt two Death Stars would be better than just one, and there's no reason not to assume that he already felt like this when the first Death Star (from ANH) was constructed.

 

To quote Contact: "Why build one when you can build two at twice the price?"

 

It is also implied that the empire was already working on Starkiller base before they were destroyed.

 

Where is that implied?

 

i posted this in the social thread last night, but maybe this is the more appropriate venue...

Because there's far too much to sift through on the internets, I thought I'd try and ask the experts.

Has anybody ever heard of a Star Wars Quote-Along event in theaters?

Some backstory, I've been given permission to show a movie one a projection screen once per month at work during lunch time. On May the 4th, I'd like to show ANH and our first two movies are one's that commonly have quote along events (Holy Grail & Princess Bride). I'm wondering if this idea has ever been put into practice for Star Wars.

Thanks to anybody who can provide information!

 

Not in theatres but something similar at May the 4th events at Borders or Books a Million (whatever it was at the time)

 

Thank you. I thought it was a great idea for a projection screening and was curious.

 

In the battle of Yavin one of the Rebel pilots tells another one whose X-Wing has been hit to "eject, eject!". Eject to where? The Rebel pilots don't wear spacesuits, and the battle takes place in complete vacuum. And even if they did have some kind of protection when would they have time to put it on? Vacuum kills you within seconds, minutes at the most. Besides a pilot would lose consciousness much faster than that. And then go where? Drop down to the DS surface and hope to reach a hangar, only to be taken prisoner? Use a jetpack and fly/parachute back to Yavin IV? Hold on to your R2 unit and hope its jets have enough fuel to take you back? Hope for the Falcon to pick you up??? This never made sense to me.

 

Vacuum doesn't kill you in seconds. That's been proven false in actual science (and, oh yeah, The Last Jedi).

 

Not kill, I know that. But according to several articles pilots who were exposed to high altitudes - not absolute vacuum but very low pressure - only stayed conscious for 5 to 9 seconds, depending on pressure. So they only had that much time to take measures. Since there wouldn't be any help from others in a one-man fighter (assuming an R2 unit would be no use in a medical situation) that's VERY little time. And as for the other problem, even IF a pilot manages to survive that one minute AND stay conscious, what could he possibly do? And let's not forget the outside of the DS was not "low pressure" but absolute vacuum. It certainly was far enough from Yavin to be completely outside its atmosphere.

 

Most likely the cockpit itself separates from the rest of the ship and has jets to maneuver it somewhere close.

 

In the old novels we were told that prior to punching out the flight suit could be sealed along with a mask for the helmet.

The implication always seemed to be that you would float until such time as SAR resources could be sent your way.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ejector_seat

 

208. INT. PORKINS’ STARSHIP – COCKPIT – DEATH STAR
(165)
CU. Porkins (Blue Pig). The Death Star horizon rotates outside the cockpit, as the control panels inside Pig’s ship go wild.

PORKINS
I’ve got a problem here… my converter is running wild…

BIGGS
Eject, eject, Blue Six, do you read?

PORKINS
I’m all right. I can hold it. Give me a little room, Biggs.

BIGGS
Pull up… pull up.

Given the whole context I was always under the impression that Biggs told Porkins to eject his power converter.

I wouldn't know about the latter. Gunners without spacesuits, supervised and aided by stormtroopers with no extra gear shooting through open gunports may have suggested that DS I had an atmosphere of its own, i.e. a 'natural' shield against small space debris.

Considering the odds against a success of the Alliance attack, landing on DS I and be taken prisoner probably had a bigger survival chance than exploding with your X-Wing.