Ewoks and Endor: Finding Some Science in Reacting to Return of the Jedi

[@jamesdye4603]

Can't talk about James Earl Jones without mentioning his iconic character in Conan the Barbarian, Thulsa Doom. Not really any science to speak of in that movie, but one of my favorites. You're right that Star Wars is more fantasy and is basically a sword and sorcery movie in space.

[@Eagledelta3]

I'm not a huge fan of Rise of Skywalker, but they do specifically mention that Kef Bir (where pieces of the Death Star are) is another moon orbiting the same planet as Endor. As for the Palpatine "retcon", that was already done in the old EU and they way the character was written in the Prequels was that he was obsessed with finding a way to be "immortal", so it fits the character, but it was handled very poorly.

[@williamblakehall5566]

A fellow Sneakers fan, awright! I think at that time Jones was the voice of AT&T, which would have made for a nice little extra joke. I also think of Jones as Admiral Greer in the Jack Ryan movies. (Isn't digestion over a thousand years basically ... death? A Sarlacc might be an ancient leftover bioweapon like the Xenomorph.) The most times I've ever seen a movie is thirty, but I don't know about 987 million, so you've got me beat there. Thanks!

[@keverzoid]

I always thought that, although the Sarlaac may have weak gastric juices (or the equivalent), it may take a long time digesting but the thousand year thing is perhaps a folk tale that’s been told and retold. It might have a slow metabolism, but the extent of it is hyperbole. (Shrug)

[@lennythealien8051]

“We are the United States government! We don’t do that sort of thing!” I love Sneakers! For some weird reason that was the quote I thought of first when I heard James Earl Jones had died. That and the end of his cameo on the Big Bang Theory with Carrie Fisher: “It’s not funny anymore James!” “Then why am I still laughing?” And I’m going to try the Machete order. It sounds like it would be good. I had never heard of that before. Thanks!

[@endlesswick]

The Death Star 2 is at a Lagrange point and Endor is tidally locked. I have never heard that before and that is brilliant. This has to be added to Star Wars lore.

[@kiml42]

The Death Star can easily be using Anti-Gravs to maintain a low orbit. The inertial mass remains the same, but the gravitational mass is effectively lower, allowing a much slower orbital speed for the same altitude by only partially cancelling out the gravitational mass of the station. I think I read in one of the Incredible Cross Sections books that anti-gravs are a passive technology, not requiring any power to function, so this also isn't wasteful. This also helps address the issues with Death Star debris because it doesn't have orbital velocity, so it's not injecting so much energy into the atmosphere.

[@ericjome7284]

If we think of the series as a whole, it's clear the people of the Star Wars universe have some serious mastery over gravity. Flying personal vehicles. Trivial escape of gravity wells for starships. It seems the Death Star orbiting the forest moon also is managed with some aspect of gravity manipulation. Perhaps the effective mass is moderated?

[@francoislacombe9071]

At 17:23 there is another problem with the Death Star's illumination. The way it is depicted, that system's sun should be above the horizon, it should be daytime. There is one way out of this problem, and that's if the light shining on the Death Star comes from another moon instead of directly from the sun. That would actually make sense, because the illumination is rather faint, much more in line with moonlight than sunlight.

[@richardb6260]

I always thought the Death Star was being held in place by the energy shield. It was always kept over the shield generator.

[@rodneykelly8768]

The Empire could have used the same orbital mechanics that would be used when humanity builds their space elevator.

[@marcusdirk]

@@rodneykelly8768 A space elevator needs to be attached to the ground and have a counterweight beyond geostationary orbit. And that cable has to cope with the planet's atmosphere tugging it around. The mechanics are far more complex, which is why we already have satellites in geostationary orbit and at Lagrange points, but not a space elevator. The Death Star had no cable or counterweight, so it wasn't using space elevator technology. If it had done, its destruction would have been simple: destroy the counterweight and run! Though what that would do to Endor might be worse than an orbital explosion.

[@Wolf-ln1ml]

12:30 - Well, it'd depend on the acceleration vector... Thrusting a bit prograde (to stay above the shield generator despite the next part...) _and_ a lot inward radially (towards the moon) would allow such a close "Endor-stationary" powered orbit (kind of like what Rosetta did around that comet). But overall, yeah, most sci-fi has been and still is really bad with orbital mechanics... I'd hope Kerbal Space Program might change that a _little_ bit at least in time ☺

[@johnpope515]

David Prowse was born in Bristol England so he had what we in the UK call a west country accent

[@perttisuorsa4678]

Perhaps a review of "The Day the Earth stood still" somtime in the future, doctor Siegel ? The whole movie is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpmbgWeDfsaNeKM

[@davegaracci1043]

Palpatine somehow survived 😂 hilarious 🤣. Also, there have been references to the lack of thought and planning in the deathstar, and in most cases the designer or contractors purposely sabotaged the design or construction so it would fail, or be easier to destroy. And really, these are just people (albeit alien people) and we all make mistakes, e.g. space shuttle tragedies.

[@sonofcolossus7766]

YES; THE DESIGNER PURPOSELY SABOTAGED THE DESIGN AS ITS SHOWN IN ROGUE ONE

[@anthonyhargis6855]

But, if Endor is tidally locked to its gas giant, would Endor have gravity equivalent to earth? They run around fairly normally.

[@MichaelSiegel14]

Yes. Tidal locking wouldn't affect the surface gravity.

[@anthonyhargis6855]

@@MichaelSiegel14 Why? My understanding was that earth's spin contributed to its gravity.(?)

[@MichaelSiegel14]

@@anthonyhargis6855 Earth's spin counter gravity a tiny bit due to the centrifugal effect, but not much. Tidally locked just means the same side is facing Endor's gas giant at all times. So like the Moon, the surface is dominated by Endor's gravity.

[@anthonyhargis6855]

@@MichaelSiegel14 Then, as you suggested; Endor would have to be larger than our moon.

[@MichaelSiegel14]

@@anthonyhargis6855 Oh yes. Endor is probably a bit smaller than Earth. I think, canonically, it has 85% of Earth gravity so probably close to 85% of its mass.

[@Original_Edition]

You might have over thought the Death Star's orbit. It's not passively in orbit. You talked your way out of the right answer just because you wanted to haha.

[@MichaelSiegel14]

It can't be actively maintaining that orbit because it would constantly be changing orbital parameters. You can't just hover over one spot on the planet in circular orbit like that. Every change in velocity changes your orbit.

[@Original_Edition]

@@MichaelSiegel14 if it can generate enough energy to destroy a planet, it can likely generate enough power to modify its orbit in real-time at will. How it does this, I have no idea, but it clearly does because it has to, otherwise the movie wouldn't make any sense.

[@hadtopicausername]

I find your lack of faith in episodes 7-9 heartwarming.