? about the ANH DS run...

[gunnerk19]

My mind has wandered to a point that has not been fully explained with a feasible answer (go figure)...

But, at the final briefing, the exhaust port of the DS is described as 2m wide; so, an X wing fighter flying "nap of the earth" in a trench leading to it would likely be what, 10 - 15m above the surface at sublight or combat speed?

Unless the proton torpedoes were coded and/or target linked as in " fire and forget", at the X wings approach speed, how missiles launched could pull a 90* change in trajectory, fly down a hole 2m wide for a distance equivalent of say 15 miles (estimating a small moon width of 30 miles), without striking a conduit, pipe, walkway, bridge, or whatever and detonating prior to the point it needed to strike?





Or am I being anal..... ? :lol

 

[micdavis]

"...a precise hit will start a CHAIN REACTION which should destroy the station."

It wasn't the proton torpedo itself that did the job.


...and you're being too anal, yes.

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

Not to mention 'the shaft leads DIRECTLY to the reactor system', meaning nothing in the way.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Also I assume those torps weren't programmed to detonate on impact, so they just hit the wall of the shaft and followed it down.

 

[blewis17]

Full explanation here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcL6DwSufMI

 

[SSgt Burton]

Also I assume those torps weren't programmed to detonate on impact, so they just hit the wall of the shaft and followed it down.

I wonder what Red Leader's torps were programmed for... as they "impacted on the surface" (immediately followed by a a station jarring explosion).

But yeah... it's only a movie.

I think McDavis' explanation is best- you shoot the torps into the opening, the explosion travels down the shaft to the reactor- which destroys the Death Star.

Of course this doesn't explain the animation in the briefing room showing the torpedo travelling down the shaft itself. Nor is the "chain reaction" line conclusive as it could just as easily mean that the torpedo upon travelling down the shaft and reaching the reactor, causes a chain reaction that destroys the station.

Only a movie.

Kevin

 

[Nwerke]

The film itself shows the torps making a 90-degree turn as they enter the shaft. So they've got at least limited manouevre ability in that they are able to make extremely high-G turns - this is well within the SW tech base, look at how fast Star Destroyers accelerate - thousands of Gs. However it seems as if they are also semi-ballistic - yes, they can make that simple turn, but have to fly right over the target to do it?! That really raises the question of how they navigate the shaft to hit the main reactor. Even if the shaft were only 15km dead straight, that'd be difficult.

In fact the DS1 is about a hundred miles in diameter, so they really have more like 40-50 miles to travel (allowing that the DS is a bit flatter than a true sphere, and that the reactor chamber is itself several miles wide/high). It's pretty hard to understand. Was there something in the dialogue about it being magnetically shielded or something? Maybe there's a magnetic funnel effect.

 

[Gigatron]

Maybe proton torpedos are like those programmable grenades that the army plays with. You can use the gun to set the electronic detonation timer http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/85m-for-programmable-40mm-grenades-02579/

In conjunction with the targeting computer, you set the distance and trajectory, or flight path. So, you're flying down the trench, your computer tells you you have 1000 (whatever units of distance). You program the torpedo to turn down, 90 degrees, in however many meters you are from the target, compensating for your speed.

Perhaps that's why Red Leader missed. He programmed his torpedo and then sped up just before his launch, causing an over-shoot.

-Fred

 

[vaderdarth]

I think it was just magic.

 

[CSMacLaren]

"...a precise hit will start a CHAIN REACTION which should destroy the station."

It wasn't the proton torpedo itself that did the job.


...and you're being too anal, yes.

I never understood why they just didn't simply hover directly over the exhaust port and fire straight into it...

... with either photon torpedoes...

... or with something Dr. Evil calls a "LAZER". :love

 

[Too Much Garlic]

I never understood why they just didn't simply hover directly over the exhaust port and fire straight into it...

Would have been as exciting as having the eagles fly the ring to Mount Doom and drop it into the lava in Lord of the Rings.

The fact that Red Leader missed was to illustrate that the computer really couldn't calculate the drop... they needed a Force user.

 

[Solo4114]

I never understood why they just didn't simply hover directly over the exhaust port and fire straight into it...

... with either photon torpedoes...

... or with something Dr. Evil calls a "LAZER". :love

The shaft was ray-shielded, so they had to skim the surface to THIS POINT.

 

[Darklighter]

I think it was just magic.

space magic

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

I don't get why raw recuit Luke is in charge of his group... because he shot TIE fighters in the Falcon, and Biggs and Wedge haven't shot any yet? Could be, I suppose... ok, it passes. Just.

 

[Solo4114]

Because Red Leader stuck him in command just before he got shot down. Far as I know, there was no other organization involved.

Or perhaps Luke was considered one of the most accurate shots with a proton torpedo, and in light of that, he'd be in the lead of any formation, with the other two tasked with covering his back.

 

[ihs]

...Would have been as exciting as having the eagles fly the ring to Mount Doom and drop it into the lava in Lord of the Rings...

The eagles wouldn't have even gotten close with these guys flying around:

 

[Gigatron]

The eagles wouldn't have even gotten close with these guys flying around:

Why not? The eagles handed them their dragon asses, in ROTK.

-Fred

 

[darth_myeek]

Ignoring that Star Wars is labeled a Space Fantasy do we really need to ask ourselves why R2 was riding shotgun? R2 had the Deathstar plans for the entire film, could "talk" to any computer he could stick his "computer interface arm" into, and it's obvious that programmed the torpedo. Plus R2's MIDI count was off the charts.


-DM

 

[vaderdarth]

I think Eagles hate volcanos. Something about smokin feathers etc....Although they could have dropped hobbits in pretty close and have avoided avalanches, gollums, wraiths and other nasty beasties. They would have saved alot of previous wars and soldiers too. Woulda been a 2 hour movie for the whole trilogy..........wait! That would not have been a good story at all. Forget all that. Eagles are allergic to sulfur!!!!!

Maybe the port was ray shielded (like they said at some point) and the only way to reach it was from the horizontal.............or............maybe Luke really did use the force and turned that sucker 90 degrees with his freakin mind!!!!!

 

[Jeyl]

Here's my question.

Comp Voice: Stand by alert. Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range... 15 minutes.

Rebel: ...should we evacuate?...... It doesn't make any sense for us to stick around here. I mean, what if our star fighters fail? It's not like the rebellion is finished if this one moon blows up.