CT Is surviving sub freezing temperatures really 1/4 as dangerous as asteroid fields?

C-3PO says the odds of Han and Luke surviving on Hoth are 600 something to one and navigating an asteroid field as 3000 something to one. Shouldn't surviving Hoth be a little less likely?

 

Han brought a whole pre-fab shelter with him, and had a Tauntaun and thick winter gear. The Falcon's shields had none of those advantages.

 

Never tell me the odds.

 

I don't think so. The asteroids are randomly moving in different directions and any one of them could pulverize the ship. In one scene we see an asteroid severely damaging a Star Destroyer.

If you can find a cave and build a fire you might be able to survive a horrible blizzard like that (or do what Han did).

 

Plus, on Hoth, you just have to stick it out for a few hours till daylight, and then rescue will be on its way.

In an asteroid field, the random asteroid orbits and directions can kill you; the vacuum of space, should your ship get holed, can kill you; if you sustain damage to your engines, or you survive a crash-landing onto an asteroid, no-one is coming to rescue you.

 

Hmm...wait a minute!

THREEPIO Artoo says the chances of survival
are seven hundred seventy-five...
to one.

THREEPIO Sir, the possibility of successfully
navigating an asteroid field is
approximately three thousand, seven
hundred and twenty to one.

THREEPIO Sir, the odds of surviving a
direct assault on an Imperial
Star Destroyer...

The first statement is a translation of Artoo's calculations. Why didn't Threepio make that calculation in the first place as he does so later on without Artoo being present.

Is it possible that Threepio merely presents guesswork, hoping to discourage Solo from his suicidal maneuvers, which is actually compliant with the "Three Laws of Robotics"? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

Interestingly, "lying" to accomplish the integrity of these 3 laws is not outruled and IIRC, Lucas believed in these rules when he wrote Star Wars.

Other than that it's obvious that Threepio prefers capture by the Empire rather than being killed by Solo's maneuvers:

THREEPIO I really don't see how that is
going to help. Surrender is a
perfectly acceptable alternative
in extreme circumstances. The
Empire may be gracious enough...

 

You've got the numbers switched around.

600 to 1
600= Them dying
1= Them surviving

3,721 to one
3,721= Them dying
1= Them surviving

Surviving the frigid Hoth wilderness is infinitely easier than trying to survive in an asteroid field. As noted before, you can build a basic shelter and feed yourself on Hoth. In an asteroid field? Where you can't get off your ship under any reasons, and there's nothing growing on the asteroid that could even feasibly be edible? You're doomed once your ship's supply of food runs out. That is assuming an asteroid that was big enough to completely obliterate your ship on impact doesn't come your way...

 

I still doubt that Threepio's "own" calculations were correct.

The survival figure regarding Hoth was probably an assumption about surviving one Hoth night (however long or short that might be).

The asteroid field figure is obviously guesswork. An exact prediction would probably require to know

• how long they'd fly inside that asteroid field and
• how far they'd fly inside

With Threepio I'd say he was probably presenting the worst figures imaginable.

 

Yep, sounds like something entirely within his character. Project the worst possible scenario and assume it's the reality. That's our droid.

 

I dont know. Those asteroids were cutting very close to the Falcon PLUS they were going fast trying to evade the TIE's so it was dangerous.

 

If C-3PO's calculations were just guesswork, then I assume (because I doubt we have any way of knowing) that the chances of survival in an asteroid field are MUCH, MUCH smaller than those on an ice planet. Far smaller than a just one fourth.