Han Solo was full of Crap. 12 Parsecs related

[Trooper_trent]

So the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, right?
She will also "make it .5 past light speed" which I understand to be (1.5 light years per year)

A parsec is roughly 3.25 light years in distance.

Which means if Han was at full speed the whole time he would make a parsec in roughly 2.17 years.

x 12 (or slightly less than)

is 26 years that he spent doing a run at full speed the whole time!

Now push your nerd glasses up off your nose and tell me why I'm wrong.:lol

 

[CessnaDriver]

He was BS'ing the farm boys with magical space terminology is how I saw it.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

I always related it to a car doing the quarter mile in less than 12 seconds which is very fast for a driveable vehicle. Don't know if that's what George meant, but it was a way to relate it to something tangible.

 

[aeonpulse]

I feel like we've already discussed this before. But yeah, I agree with Cessna. Not only was Han talking out of his ass, he was ignorant to the fact that a parsec is a measurement of distance, not time.

 

[Kerr Avon]

"Isn't a parsec a unit of distance?" - Family Guy

 

[CessnaDriver]

Ben gives him a look at that point that said to me Ben knew it was silliness.

 

[Master Dahark]

Han Solo not being completely honest during a business transaction?? NONSENSE

One thing I'd like to add- forgive me if this isn't accurate, but it's just something I remember one of my 'Star Wars Nerd' friends way back in High School saying. Something along the lines of 'the Kessel Run was full of black holes, and to do whatever Han did in the impossible time he was boasting about, he drifted the Falcon close to the black holes in order to 'cheat space/time'

Take that however you want it; it's just something from High School I remember

 

[ave4uevoli]

He was full of it... or you're just wrong by assuming that .5 past light speed means 1.5.

In fact, we really don't know what units of measurements the .5 references. It could be a whole new system created just for the star wars universe. Perhaps, to bring in Trek stuff here, where warp 1 is light speed and warp 10 is the theoretical speed limit, ".5" is actually the equivalent of Warp 5 or something.

 

[Yodajammies]

.... equivalent to Warp 5 -

 

[terryr]

He was just checking them out to see how ignorant they were, thus he could charge them more. But Ben just pretended to believe, and gave him that look, [wow you're kewl ], so Han knew he was very knowledgeable.

And Lucas screwed up the slang.

 

[Michael Bergeron]

I feel like we've already discussed this before. But yeah, I agree with Cessna. Not only was George talking out of his ass, he was ignorant to the fact that a parsec is a measurement of distance, not time.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[0neiros]

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

 

[d_jedi1]

I always assumed that his quip about .5 past light-speed was in reference to his "sublight" engines and that he was full of it and Obi-Wan knew it about the 12 parsecs.
But then, what do I know?

 

[rodneyfaile]

Or could it be poor writing?

 

[GoGators]

When you are Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Some wierd guy in cowbooys and aliens, and so on... You get away with whatever you want

 

[CB2001]

I always related it to a car doing the quarter mile in less than 12 seconds which is very fast for a driveable vehicle. Don't know if that's what George meant, but it was a way to relate it to something tangible.

I believe that was the case. Harrison Ford himself stated in one of the original making-of for Star Wars that he compared the jump to hyperspace to the drag-racing from American Graffiti. But, it could be possible that Han was refering more to the technological advancement of navigation systems that allowed him to make the run in a shorter distance than it does in relation to speed.

 

[Jedifyfe]

Here is the real answer...

Spoiler

IT'S A MOVIE!!!!

 

[JMChladek]

Well, in Han's defense he was kind of distracted. He had a price on his head and knew Greedo was likely going to come in at any minute and shoot next to his head again like some dumb trick shot gunslinger to try and scare him.

 

[Wolfie138]

i doubt Han was BSing, he was proud and boastful of his ship and accomplishments in all films. the wording is simply lucas' ignorance.

 

[cayman shen]

Or could it be poor writing?

BINGO! :lol