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[Zrk2]

Those bastards! They must hate our freedom.

[FearfulJesuit]

inb4 GreatJustice and Trollheiming

[Sirus]

@ GWG:

The problem with this logic is that "Alderaan Destruction" power also "blow up a space ship."

You're forgetting that "Alderaan Destruction" power also takes an entire day to recharge. So the fact that the Death Star was firing multiple shots during the Battle of Endor implies that it was using much less power for each shot.

A more accepted (AFAIK) theory is that a fair-sized space rock struck the still-molten Earth, causing a chunk of lava and at least part of the rock to go into orbit. Kinda. Science is annoying like that--it doesn't lend itself to one-sentence descriptions.

Point is, that chunk of rock was not perfectly spherical. It took a very long time (from our perspective, anyway) for that chunk to coalesce with the thousands of other chunks to form that big old off-white ball in the sky.

[GreatWyrmGold]

The problem with this logic is that "Alderaan Destruction" power also "blow up a space ship."

You're forgetting that "Alderaan Destruction" power also takes an entire day to recharge. So the fact that the Death Star was firing multiple shots during the Battle of Endor implies that it was using much less power for each shot.

I'll admit to not having seen the movies in a while, but...couldn't the Death Star have had more than one laser?

A more accepted (AFAIK) theory is that a fair-sized space rock struck the still-molten Earth, causing a chunk of lava and at least part of the rock to go into orbit. Kinda. Science is annoying like that--it doesn't lend itself to one-sentence descriptions.

Point is, that chunk of rock was not perfectly spherical. It took a very long time (from our perspective, anyway) for that chunk to coalesce with the thousands of other chunks to form that big old off-white ball in the sky.

The bits collected together a lot faster, even if they weren't all in one solid bit yet. It's still probably easier to just mine asteroids, because it kinda takes a lot of energy to bust a planet.

[PanH]

Well, I guess if you can make a laser to destroy a planet, you can easily make one with lower power to break it in little pieces for easier mining.

[Sirus]

In any case, since as far as I'm aware we do not have access to hypermatter reactors or the capacity to build anything with a 900km radius, this whole discussion is moot

[misko27]

In any case, since as far as I'm aware we do not have access to hypermatter reactors or the capacity to build anything with a 900km radius, this whole discussion is moot

We would if Obama waqwsn't anti-science.

[Sirus]

In any case, since as far as I'm aware we do not have access to hypermatter reactors or the capacity to build anything with a 900km radius, this whole discussion is moot

We would if Obama waqwsn't anti-science.

It ain't Obama's fault! He's a big supporter of science fairs and the like. Blame Congress for this one.

[Muz]

Well, I guess if you can make a laser to destroy a planet, you can easily make one with lower power to break it in little pieces for easier mining.

Not really. If you could make a death star, you'd already have an epic power source. It's harder to make that kind of epicness precise than trying to just bulldoze something. Like using a sledgehammer for a nail.

[Sigulbard]

It's ok guys, there's a Kickstarter underway:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/461687407/kickstarter-open-source-death-star

And it's gonna be open source! How cool is that?! All we need is $20,000,000 (plus $850,000,000,000,000,000 to further secure construction) 

[Korbac]

The only risk is the power of the Force.

The main challenge is assuring Kickstarter that this is a joke and not a serious project. As proof, the goal has been set high enough to make successful funding almost impossible.

[10ebbor10]

The problem with this logic is that "Alderaan Destruction" power also "blow up a space ship."

You're forgetting that "Alderaan Destruction" power also takes an entire day to recharge. So the fact that the Death Star was firing multiple shots during the Battle of Endor implies that it was using much less power for each shot.

I'll admit to not having seen the movies in a while, but...couldn't the Death Star have had more than one laser?

It had several thousand point defense lasers, but only one primary laser array. Just look at any image, it's pretty huge. Also, you see it fire, and it's the same laser every time.

((Forgetting of course that firing a planet destruction laser at a spaceship would have a much stronger effect that just blowing it up.))

[Flying Dice]

The problem with this logic is that "Alderaan Destruction" power also "blow up a space ship."

You're forgetting that "Alderaan Destruction" power also takes an entire day to recharge. So the fact that the Death Star was firing multiple shots during the Battle of Endor implies that it was using much less power for each shot.

I'll admit to not having seen the movies in a while, but...couldn't the Death Star have had more than one laser?

It had several thousand point defense lasers, but only one primary laser array. Just look at any image, it's pretty huge. Also, you see it fire, and it's the same laser every time.

((Forgetting of course that firing a planet destruction laser at a spaceship would have a much stronger effect that just blowing it up.))

Those thousands of turbolasers are only point defense by merit of the Death Star being so large that ordinary cap ships are basically fighters in comparison.

There's also the aspect of it that Death Star 1 and Death Star 2 were different beasts. Who's to say they didn't increase the power output/rate of fire of the megalaser for the second one?

Here are the weapon stats I found for DSII:

1x Superlaser
15,000x Heavy Turbolaser Batteries
15,000x Turbolaser Batteries
7,500x Laser Cannons
5,000x Ion Cannons
768x Tractor Beams

By way of comparison, an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer has this armament:

8x Octuple Barbette Turbolasers or Ion Cannons
50x Heavy Turbolaser Batteries
50x Turbolaser Batteries
20x Ion Cannons
10x Tractor Beams

So yeah. The superlaser is essentially just a really big toy. In canon it is mentioned that a single Imperial-class is capable of devastating a hostile planet or winning a fight with another capital ship. The DS-II has the conventional armament of a massive fleet of SDs, presumably more than enough to render a planet uninhabitable with simple weight of fire. By all rights a DS should be able to take on a fleet of just about any size and win, solo, without using the superlaser. It's only idiotic flaws and Emperor logic that allows them to be destroyed in suitably heroic fashion.

[misko27]

I want a petition demanding Cobra Command be designated a terrorist organization and their assets be frozen.

The only risk is the power of the Force.

The main challenge is assuring Kickstarter that this is a joke and not a serious project. As proof, the goal has been set high enough to make successful funding almost impossible.

If I had  $20,000,000, I'd put it in this project right now.

[PanH]

If I had  $20,000,000, I'd put it in this project right now.

Just to prove them wrong  ?