Just because today is a holiday for most Americans doesn’t mean we have to stop learning. No, instead we should pursue knowledge regardless of whether our office is open or not. So, to help, I am going to share an amazing fact with you. The model of the second Death Star (appearing in Return of the Jedi) is so fragile that it does not travel with the rest of the artifacts from the Star Wars movies on museum tours. Instead, it is safely ensconced in LucasFilm’s archive building.
There, now don’t you feel better?
[Image Credit: Star Wars on Google+]
Also, that picture isn't backwards. They built it like that, and flipped the image during compositing onto film.
I've always wondered – why is it layered like a stack of paper instead of an onion?
Because that's how Vader wanted it.
"Screw physics, I wield the Force!"
That or magical gravity control machines. Maybe extremely dense deck plates?
then you run into all sorts of other issues. No matter what, it's big enough that mass distribution is going to throw whatever means of gravity control you decide to use out the window. To me, the only reasonable way to do this would be 10 or so layers on the outside (spherically shaped) with such dense deckplates at the bottom, and hollow inside to serve as a hangar or something. Otherwise you'll get crazy gravity gradients. It's big enough to be a moon, so treat it as such. Down is towards the center.
Maybe they built a large gravity well in the center that was much stronger than whatever gravity being smaller than a moon would create. Then have "down" be dependent on which side of the well you're on.
Oh yes, there are all sort of problems with the solutions for gravity with that kind of deck arrangement, but that's part of the fun! For instance, how high would you have to make the ceilings in order for the gravity of consecutive decks to not cancel each other out at the midpoint? Do it wrong and your head would want to fall up while your feet would be pulled down as you were walking. How in the world would that feel as you walked down a hallway? how high would you have to jump in order to stick to the ceiling? It would be a strange place. It would be structurally weak too, even with no gravity.
I agree that the only feasible solution is to have 'down' at the center of the structure, and have the decks arranged like the layers of an onion. But sometimes it's fun to play along with the movie model maker's whims.
Mini Gravity wells all over the place to make it all work out… or magnetic shoes…
Does anyone else find it implausible that the DS II was constructed in such a manner? I just can't imagine launching a spacecraft with an incomplete outer hull.
Unless of course you just build it in space in the first place – possibly from modules built on the home planet.
This only leaves one problem: with a big, round spaceship the size of a small moon, where would you smash the bottle of champagne, and how do you control the smashing in zero gravity?
The deadliest ping-pong ball in the Universe!!!!!
http://www.geekologie.com/2012/06/impressive-lil-…