Diagram of the Death Star from Star Wars. Can the Death Star destroy the galaxy? What do we know about the Star Wars Battle Station?

The Death Star

The Death Star

The Death Star was designed before the start of the Clone Wars (the Separatists wanted to use the Death Star against the Republic, but its construction was never started due to the invasion of Geonosis - the drawings of the Star .. were given to Darth Sidious, who immediately found a use for them, when he became Emperor), but was later transferred to the hands of the Empire, namely Wright Sinar and Bevel Lemelisk, commissioned by Grand Moff Tarkin to control the Outer Territories. According to Tarkin's plan, the station, capable of blowing up planets, was supposed to terrify the population of sectors subject to him and completely eliminate any possibility of resistance to imperial power. In doing so, Sinar took advantage of the Geonosians' "Great Weapon" project, created before the Clone Wars. The station was completed in the year of the Battle of Yavin.

Tarkin was eager to try out the new weapon. Soon he had such an opportunity: Darth Vader captured the rebel agent Princess Leia and brought her aboard the station. As the popularity of the Rebel Alliance continued to grow, the Empire urgently needed to stop this process. Vader attempted to torture Leia into revealing the location of the Alliance's secret base with a robot executioner, but she did not succumb. Then Tarkin brought the Death Star to Alderaan, the princess's home planet, and declared that if she did not give him the rebel base, he would destroy Alderaan. In a panic, Leia told him that the base was on the remote planet Dantooine, but Tarkin did not stop the execution of Alderaan, as he needed to teach all the rebels a lesson, and the destruction of a densely populated planet in the center of the galaxy that supports the rebels was the best way to intimidate.

Zvezda's secret plans were hidden by Leia inside Obi-Wan Kenobi's astro-robot, which, along with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and C3PO's translator robot, ended up in the 2037 Death Star's dock aboard the Millennium Falcon spacecraft, which was captured in captured by the Star almost immediately after the hyperjump to the no longer existing Alderaan.

The new Death Star is even more powerful and invulnerable than its predecessor. The ill-fated ventilation shaft leading directly to the reactor has been replaced with a complex and tortuous system of pipes. The reactor itself became capable of collecting energy for a shot in a few minutes (the previous version required about a day). The focusing device made it possible to aim the beam not only at planets, but also at battleships. In addition, the Death Star, located near the planet Endor, was protected by a force field, the generator of which was located outside the Star.

A cunning plan devised by Emperor Palpatine was to give the Rebel Alliance the illusion that the Star was vulnerable. To do this, however, first it was necessary to find and turn off the force field generator. The data obtained by the Alliance scouts (sometimes at the cost of life) made it possible to establish that it is located on the forest moon of Endor and is poorly guarded. However, in fact, the data leak was set up by the Emperor, as was the trap that was waiting for Han Solo and his band of rebels on Endor. Thus, the Emperor hoped to lure and destroy the entire rebel fleet, which would be sent to distract the Imperials from the main attack. However, the resourcefulness and luck of the heroes allowed them not only to get out of the imperial trap, but still destroy the generator. Then a link of Alliance fighters, led by Lando Calrissian, piloting the Millennium Falcon, made their way through the ventilation system to the reactor and destroyed it, barely managing to escape from the explosion.

"Twins" - Death Stars

The construction of the Twins began shortly before the death of the Emperor on Endor. The twins were two miniature battle stations (approximately 13 km in diameter each), which, however, were armed with superlasers capable of destroying entire planets. Construction began in orbit around Coruscant. Information has been given to the media that the two spheres in orbit are future residential areas for an overcrowded Imperial City.

The fate of both stations is unknown.

Battle Station Tarkin

Tarkin Station was built on the planet Hokoleg after the Battle of Hoth. The new Imperial station lost its round design for the sake of saving money. The Tarkin was built along the lines of the Super Star Destroyer, but scaled up to fit the original Death Star. Due to its reduced firepower and low mobility, the station was accompanied by a powerful Imperial fleet, making the station virtually invulnerable. The ventilation shafts, the scourge of Imperial stations, were redesigned to be hundreds of small (no more than two centimeters) holes in the surface. The Tarkin superweapon was absolutely identical to the weapon of the first Death Star.

Despite everything, the station was destroyed. Rebel saboteurs infiltrated the station and attempted to destroy it. They were thwarted by the Dark Lord Vader, who was at the station. He fought Luke Skywalker and won. At this time, Chewbacca managed to turn off the station's tractor beams and change the firing vector in the opposite direction, that is, inside the station. Vader flew to catch up with the rebels in his TIE Fighter, and the station began preparing to fire. As a result of the shot, the station was torn apart.

In addition, according to Timothy Zahn's book The Last Order, there was battle station Tarkin 2 in the New Republic. She was three times smaller than the Death Star and did not carry a superlaser on board, but twice as much weapons and a more powerful shield. The Republicans named this station in honor of the feat of Grand Moff, who found the courage not to leave the Death Star at the time of its crash.

Internal organization

Death Star, front view, view of the North. Pole:

1. Northern Hemisphere Command Sector;
2. Polar trench;
3. Superlaser focusing lens;
4. Blocks of ion engines;
5. Trench mid hemisphere;
6. Southern Hemisphere Command Sector;
7. Quadium steel outer sheath;
8. Equatorial trench;
9. Borders of city buildings;

327 - Hangar / dock 2037.

Specifications

• Diameter 120 km, or 102 miles (according to Grant McCum, the main layout designer of the movie saga);
• Circumference along the equatorial trench - 376 km
• 2 hyperspace engines
• 123 generators for each navigation bank of the hyperlink system, symmetrically located on the surface of the station;
• 2 travel motors

regular crew

• 27,048 officers
• 774,576 soldiers, pilots and mechanics
• 378 576-378 685 service personnel
• about 25,000 attack aircraft
• about 400,000 different droids;

Armament

• 1 super laser with 8 additional powerful lasers, rate of fire - 1 shot per 24 hours (at the first station);
• 5,000 laser batteries;
• 5,000 heavy laser batteries;
• 2,500 laser cannons;
• 2,500 ion cannons;
• 768 capture beam generators/searchlights;

Spaceships on board

• 4 ships of the main classes;
• 3,600 L class shuttles;
• 1,860 landing ships;
• 13,000 planetary vehicles and additional fleet:
• 1,400 ATV tanks;
• 1,400 AST self-propelled guns;
• 178 command tanks;
• 356 "flying fortresses";
• 4,843 HAVwAS heavy wheeled tanks;
• 4,824 auxiliary fleet units.

Other analogies and cross-references

• The Death Star from the BBMMORPG game Ogame is the most dangerous of all available ships, with the most powerful defense and huge attack power. The Death Star in the game is equipped with a graviton gun and is capable of destroying moons. It is curious that in the first version of the graphic design of the game, the appearance of the Death Star completely repeated the ship from " star wars". Now the design has changed, only the name is the same.
• The Death Star from the online turn-based strategy game Divide & Conquer has a mass of 40,000 tons and was the heaviest unit in the game until the March 2009 rebalance. Unlike analogues in other fictional universes, it cannot destroy planets and is adapted exclusively for orbital combat. Appearance completely repeats the ship from Star Wars, which causes dissatisfaction with many players, since such a design is not typical for the game. Similar complaints are caused by the name, which also does not correspond to either the spirit of the game or the functions of the prototype.
• Empire Destroyer equipped with the Super Laser - Vogon Ship from the world-famous novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, as well as the 2005 film of the same name
• Connection with the Stargate of the enclave of the Gree civilization - see fig./ill. (English)
• An analogue in the form of a real object is Mimas, a satellite of the planet Saturn (Solar System), which, by the way, was photographed three years AFTER the release of the film ANH (Star Wars: A New Hope) \u003d HH (Star Wars: A New Hope) on world screens.
• In the Galactic Civilizations games, especially evil civilizations can upgrade a regular space station into a Terror Star. The power of the Terror Star far exceeds the power of the Death Star, as the Terror Star destroys the entire star system, turning the star itself into a new star.
• In Master of Orion 2, the heaviest ship class is the Doom Star. There is also a Stellar Converter weapon, which is also capable of destroying the entire planet, turning it into an asteroid belt.
• Lexx, from the neutron star of the same name.
• Unicron is a giant planet-transforming robot featured in the animated feature film "Transformers - The movie".
• A giant death star-like station is called the Death Egg, which appeared in the game Sonic the hedgehog 2. This station carries tremendous destructive power.
• Fritz Leiber's novel The Drifter features battle stations far superior to the Death Star. Stations are built from planets the size of Earth or slightly larger. The crew is the entire population of the planet, several billion.

Links

• Death Star at TheForce.net
• description of hangar/dock 2037 - location of the Millennium Falcon Death Star Capture Beam
• description of the northern trench of the Death Star

LOCATION The Death Star appears in 100 issues.

In the Star Wars universe, the Death Star is space station, which is roughly the size of a lunar or small asteroid. It was built by the Empire and is capable of generating enough energy to destroy an entire planet.

History of the Star Wars Death Star

The Death Star is a space station created by the Galactic Empire to be the most powerful force in the galaxy. With the Death Star, they had the ultimate weapon, able to destroy an entire planet, as demonstrated in its successful test shooting Princess Leia's home world of Alderaan at full strength and the prison planet of Despayre at half that power.

Commanded by Grand Moff Tarkin of the Galactic Empire with a crew of over 250,000, the Death Star can house approximately 700,000 personnel at one time: gunners, troops and technicians are included It also has an impressive arsenal including: LINK Fighters, strike cruisers, blast boats and attack shuttles. It also has defense weapons ranging from turbo blasters to ion cannons and tractor beams.

Death Star II

After the first Death Star was destroyed, the Empire began building another almost immediately. During the Battle of Endor, the second Death Star was half full, but already had a laser and most its fully operational defense capability. After Han Solo destroyed the shield generator, Lando flew the Millennium Falcon to the very core and destroyed the heart of the Death Star, the reactor core.

Death Star Weapon

The Death Star has many different turrets, shooters and ion cannons made to protect its upper shell from attack.

It also contains a myriad of hanger bays housing just about every conceivable weapon of war in the Empires arsenal for deployment.

It is also equipped with a modern shield through which no spaceship or weapons of any destructive power may not transmit and do so any significant damage. The first Death Star had an internally powered tractor beam that could be used offensively. The Battle of Endor passed as the unfinished Death Star II was unable to defend itself at that stage and relied on a shield array base on the forest moon to supply its defense.

The main cannon itself was without equal in the Star Wars universe for sheer destructive power. Able to obliterate a planet with very little preparation or warm up period it did take several minutes of cool-down/recharge time, affecting diverse targets such as capital ships.

Death Star Movement

The Death Star appears moving very slowly and on its own axis and what might be called a forward thrust with no visible means of that thrust. It really begs the question, standing in front of him, the forces always collide with his cannon instead of attacking from opposite side(other than for visual and aesthetic reasons, of course).

Vulnerability

In much the same way B is a crushing blow against an opposing force, his size is also his weakness. While Ion's torpedoes can penetrate upper shell and cause internal damage, due to the real scale of the station, they have little effect when not directed.

The first Death Star was destroyed because it had a small exhaust port that connected the upper shell to the main reactor, and missiles were delivered directly into it. The weakness of the second Death Star was its gaping unfinished super Rebellion craft structure permitting passage directly down to its reactor core, where they fired directly at the reactor itself. this was possible once the shield on Endor was closed, allowing access inside.

Tarkin was eager to try out the new weapon. Soon he had such an opportunity: Darth Vader captured a rebel agent princess leia, which was carrying the plans for the Death Star stolen by the rebels, but managed to hide them, and delivered it aboard the station. Since the popularity Rebel Alliance continued to grow, the Empire urgently needed to stop this process, especially since the rebels could find a weak spot in the plans of the station and destroy it. Vader tried torture using the executioner robot to force Leia to reveal the location of the secret base of the Alliance and confess where the plans were hidden, but she turned out to be strong enough in spirit and did not succumb. Then Tarkin led the Death Star to Alderaan- the princess's home planet - and declared that if she did not give him the rebel base, he would destroy Alderaan. In a panic, Leia told him that the base was on the remote planet Dantooine, but Tarkin did not stop the execution of Alderaan, as he needed to teach all the rebels a lesson, and the destruction of a densely populated planet in the center of the galaxy that supports the rebels was the best way to intimidate.

Leia hid Zvezda's plans inside an astromech droid. R2-D2 and ordered him to find Obi Wana Kenobi. Obi Wan with Luke Skywalker , Han Solo , Chewbacca and robot translator C3PO found themselves docked in the 2037 Death Star aboard the spacecraft " millennium falcon, which was tractor beamed and hauled aboard the Death Star almost immediately after hyperjumping to the no longer existing Alderaan.

Shortly thereafter, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo helped Leia escape, but a "beacon" was placed on their ship, letting the Imperial forces know that the Rebel base was on fourth satellite planet Yavin. The Death Star went there to deal a crushing blow to the Alliance. Meanwhile, the rebels, after analyzing the station plans stolen by Leia, found out that the only way to destroy the well-defended station was to hit its main reactor through an outlet shaft, ending in a hole with a diameter of about two meters. When the Death Star arrived in the Yavin system, it was attacked by Rebel starfighter units. This is how it started Yavin battle, the date of which later became the beginning of the chronology of the New Republic.

It quickly became clear that the designers of the station, considering it invulnerable, critically underestimated the threat from light fighters and did not provide adequate measures to counter them. The Rebels suffered heavy casualties, but before the Death Star was in firing position, Luke Skywalker hit the station's reactor with a proton torpedo, causing the Death Star to explode. Tarkin died along with his offspring, and Vader, who participated in the defense, was thrown far into space by a well-aimed shot from Han Solo. This victory allowed the Alliance to strengthen its position, but the Empire was still strong and very far from defeat.

Enraged by the death of the station, the emperor Palpatine subjected Lemelisk, whom he considered personally guilty of the defeat, to a painful death. A clone of Lemelisk was previously grown, which (after moving the personality of the designer into it using Sith technician) was forced to design a new, even larger "Death Star", which would be devoid of the shortcomings of its predecessor. From time to time, Palpatine again executed Lemelisk and again created his clone.

Second Death Star

The new Death Star is even more powerful and invulnerable than its predecessor. The ill-fated outlet shaft leading directly to the reactor was replaced by a complex and branched system of pipes, ending in millions of millimeter holes all over the surface, with fuses in case of an explosion. The reactor itself and the power system of the new station became capable of accumulating energy for a shot from a superlaser (the main weapon designed to destroy planets) in a few minutes - the previous version accumulated energy for this for about a day. The focusing device made it possible to aim the beam not only at the planets, but also at capital ships. The station was supposed to be protected by a planetary-scale force field, but since the station's own generators were not yet completed, the Death Star under construction, located near the planet Endor, was temporarily protected by a force field projected stationary generator on the surface of the planet. Scattered across the surface of the battle station were thousands of heavy and anti-fighter guns, as well as hangars for shuttles and fighters. Unlike the basic project, the new station was built with the expectation of repelling massive fighter attacks.

The construction of the station was still far from complete (the main structure was less than half assembled) when Palpatine decided to use her as bait to destroy the rebel fleet. Palpatine's plan was to give the Rebel Alliance the illusion that the Star was vulnerable and provoke them into attacking. Data obtained by Alliance scouts (sometimes at the cost of life) has revealed that the Death Star still does not have its own force field and is protected by a screen projected from the forested moon of Endor, which is very weakly guarded. But in fact, this information leak, like the trap that was waiting for Hana Solo and his band of rebels on Endor, were set up by the Emperor. Thus, the Emperor hoped to lure and destroy the entire rebel fleet, which would be sent to distract the Imperials from the main goal of the attack. Nevertheless, the resourcefulness and luck of the heroes allowed them not only to get out of the imperial trap, but also to destroy the generator of the protective force field. They were greatly helped by the people of Endor - Ewoks, undersized intelligent animals, similar to small bears. After that, the strike link of the Alliance fighters, led by Lando Calrissian, piloting " Millennium Falcon”, through the ventilation system (since the station had not yet been completed) penetrated to the reactor and destroyed it, barely managing to escape from the shock wave of the explosion.

Specifications

• The diameter of the first AP is 164 km. The diameter of the second AP is 900 km. Earlier sources gave lower numbers. For comparison, diameter Moon about 3474 km.
• 2 hyperspace engine
• 123 generators for each navigation bank of the hyperlink system, symmetrically located on the surface of the station;
• 2 travel motors

regular crew

• 27,049 officers
• 7,745,769 soldiers, pilots and mechanics
• 378 576-378 685 service personnel
• around 25,000 attack aircraft(Imperial soldiers)
• about 400,000 different droids ;

Armament

• Central guide superlaser, heavy duty. The rate of fire of the first station is 1 shot per day, the second - 1 shot per 3 minutes;
• 8 superlasers high precision(are components of the main superlaser);
• 5000 laser batteries;
• 5000 heavy laser batteries;
• 25,075 laser cannons;
• 25,070 ion cannons;
• 768 capture beam generators/searchlights;

Spaceships on board

4 ships of the main classes;

• 7200 TIE fighters;
• 3,600 L-class shuttles;
• 1860 landing craft;
• 13,000 planetary vehicles and additional fleet:
• 1400 ATV tanks;
• 1400 self-propelled guns AST;
• 178 command tanks;
• 356 "flying fortresses";
• 4843 HAVwAS heavy wheeled tanks;
• 4824 units of the auxiliary fleet;
• 300 TIE fighters;
• 5 personal TIE fighters of Darth Vader;

Analogies and interesting facts

• "Death Star" BBMMORPG-games Ogame- the most dangerous of all available ships, with the most powerful defense and huge attack power. The Death Star in the game is equipped with a graviton gun and is capable of destroying moons. It is curious that in the first version of the graphic design of the game, the appearance of the Death Star completely repeated the ship from Star Wars. Now the design has changed, only the name is the same.
• In the animated series Wonderful parents» The villain Dark Laser has a "Death Ball", which is a parody of the "Death Star".
• Dr. Eggman, the main villain of the game series Sonic the Hedgehog, has repeatedly created the Death Egg space station, which is also an allusion to the Death Star.
• The Death Star from the online turn-based strategy game Divide & Conquer has a mass of 40,000 tons and, until the March 2009 rebalance, was the heaviest unit in the game. Unlike its counterparts in other fictional universes, it cannot destroy planets and is adapted exclusively for orbital combat. The appearance completely repeats the building from Star Wars, which causes dissatisfaction with many players, since such a design is not typical for the game. Similar complaints are caused by the name, which also does not correspond to either the spirit of the game or the functions of the prototype.
• Empire Destroyer Equipped with a Super Laser - Vogon Ship from the World Famous Novel Douglas Adams « The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", as well as movie of the same name 2005.
• In the series " Babylon 5» in the navy of the race Vorlons there is a fleet of giant ships, each of which is capable of destroying an entire planet with one volley of their guns (these Vorlon ships are called so - "Planet Destroyers", "Planet Destroyers", "Planet Killers").
• In the games of the series Galactic Civilizations especially evil civilizations can upgrade an ordinary space station into a Terror Star. The power of the Terror Star far exceeds the power of the Death Star, as the Terror Star destroys the entire star system, turning the luminary itself into new.
• In the games of the series Galactic Civilizations II: Twilligth of Arnor already any civilization can have access to the technologies for creating the "Star of Terror".
• In Game Master of Orion 2 the heaviest ship class is Doom Star. There is also a Stellar Converter weapon, which is also capable of destroying the entire planet, turning it into asteroid belt.
• In Game Descent: FreeSpace the role of such a "Death Star" belongs to the SD (Shivan destroyer) of the "Lucifer" class Shivan race, which is reliably protected from outside attacks and can only be blown up in subspace. In the second game of the series - free space 2- even larger Shivan ships are shown - SJ (Shivansky Juggernaut) of the Satan class, each of which can destroy an entire star system.
• Lexx, from the eponymous series. Built using bio-organic technology, the Bug Ship (practically creature) - "the most destructive force in the two universes", as they call it in the series - capable of destroying any heavenly body, including neutron star.
• Unicron- a giant robot that transformed into a planet, featured in the full-length animated film "Transformers - The movie".
• In the animated series Monster Planet» The main enemy is unknown creatures that have at their disposal a giant spaceship in the shape of a ball, capable of swallowing the entire planet.
• In the novel Fritz Leiber The Drifter features battle stations that are significantly superior to the Death Star. Stations are built from planets the size of Earth or slightly larger. Crew - the entire population of the planet (up to several billion).

At the beginning of February 2013 on the site Kickstarter A project was created to finance the construction of the Death Star by Internet users.

Primary Galactic, Huttian, Aqualish, Bokke, Lasatni, Ithorian, Ubese, Ewok, etc.

The French attributed the fire of Moscow to au patriotisme feroce de Rastopchine [Rastopchin's wild patriotism]; Russians - to the fanaticism of the French. In essence, there were no such reasons and could not be. Moscow burned down due to the fact that it was placed in such conditions under which any wooden city must burn down, regardless of whether or not there are one hundred and thirty bad fire pipes in the city. Moscow had to burn down due to the fact that the inhabitants had left it, and just as inevitably as a pile of shavings should catch fire, on which sparks of fire would fall for several days. A wooden city, in which there are fires almost every day in the summer with residents, owners of houses and the police, cannot help but burn when there are no inhabitants in it, but troops live, smoking pipes, laying fires on Senate Square from the senate chairs and those who cook themselves to eat twice a day. In peacetime it is necessary for troops to settle down in apartments in villages in a certain area, and the number of fires in this area immediately increases. To what extent should the probability of fires increase in an empty wooden city in which a foreign army is stationed? Le patriotisme feroce de Rastopchine and the savagery of the French are not to blame for anything here. Moscow caught fire from pipes, from kitchens, from bonfires, from the slovenliness of enemy soldiers, residents - not the owners of houses. If there were arson (which is very doubtful, because there was no reason for anyone to set fire, and, in any case, troublesome and dangerous), then arson cannot be taken as a reason, since without arson it would be the same.
No matter how flattering it was for the French to blame the atrocities of Rastopchin and the Russians to blame the villain Bonaparte or then to put the heroic torch into the hands of their people, one cannot but see that there could not be such a direct cause of the fire, because Moscow had to burn down, as every village, factory should burn down , any house from which the owners will come out and into which they will be allowed to host and cook their own porridge of strangers. Moscow is burned down by the inhabitants, it is true; but not by those inhabitants who remained in it, but by those who left it. Moscow, occupied by the enemy, did not remain intact, like Berlin, Vienna and other cities, only due to the fact that its inhabitants did not bring bread of salt and keys to the French, but left it.

On the day of September 2, the French invasion, spreading like a star across Moscow, reached the quarter in which Pierre now lived, only in the evening.
Pierre was in a state close to insanity after the last two, solitary and unusually spent days. His whole being was seized by one obsessive thought. He himself did not know how and when, but this thought now took possession of him so that he remembered nothing of the past, did not understand anything of the present; and everything he saw and heard happened before him as in a dream.
Pierre left his home only in order to get rid of the complex confusion of the demands of life that had seized him, and which he, in his then state, but was able to unravel. He went to Iosif Alekseevich's apartment under the pretext of sorting through the books and papers of the deceased, only because he was looking for peace from life's anxiety - and with the memory of Iosif Alekseevich, a world of eternal, calm and solemn thoughts was associated in his soul, completely opposite to the disturbing confusion in which he felt drawn in. He was looking for a quiet refuge and indeed found it in the office of Joseph Alekseevich. When, in the dead silence of the office, he sat down, leaning on his hands, over a dusty desk of the deceased, in his imagination, calmly and significantly, one after another, memories began to appear last days, in particular the battle of Borodino and that indefinable feeling for him of his insignificance and deceit in comparison with the truth, simplicity and strength of that category of people who were imprinted in his soul under the name they. When Gerasim woke him from his reverie, Pierre got the idea that he would take part in the proposed - as he knew - public protection Moscow. And for this purpose, he immediately asked Gerasim to get him a caftan and a pistol and announced to him his intention, hiding his name, to stay in the house of Joseph Alekseevich. Then, during the first solitary and idly spent day (Pierre tried several times and could not stop his attention on Masonic manuscripts), several times he vaguely imagined the thought that had previously come about the cabalistic meaning of his name in connection with the name of Bonaparte; but this thought that he, l "Russe Besuhof, is destined to put an end to the power of the beast, came to him only as one of the dreams that run through his imagination for no reason and without a trace.
When, having bought a caftan (with the aim of only participating in the people's defense of Moscow), Pierre met the Rostovs and Natasha told him: “Are you staying? Oh, how good it is! - the thought flashed through his head that it would really be good, even if they took Moscow, he would stay in it and fulfill what was predetermined for him.
The next day, with one thought not to feel sorry for himself and not to lag behind them in anything, he went with the people beyond the Trekhgornaya outpost. But when he returned home, convinced that Moscow would not be defended, he suddenly felt that what had previously seemed to him only a possibility had now become a necessity and inevitability. He had to, hiding his name, stay in Moscow, meet Napoleon and kill him in order to either die or end the misfortune of all of Europe, which, according to Pierre, came from Napoleon alone.
Pierre knew all the details of the attempt on the life of a German student by Bonaparte in Vienna in 1809 and knew that this student was shot. And the danger to which he exposed his life in the fulfillment of his intention excited him even more.
Two equally strong feelings irresistibly attracted Pierre to his intention. The first was a feeling of the need for sacrifice and suffering in the consciousness of general misfortune, that feeling, as a result of which he went to Mozhaisk on the 25th and drove into the heat of battle, now ran away from his house and, instead of the usual luxury and comforts of life, slept without undressing on hard couch and ate the same meal with Gerasim; the other was that indefinite, exclusively Russian feeling of contempt for everything conventional, artificial, human, for everything that is considered by most people to be the highest good of the world. For the first time, Pierre experienced this strange and charming feeling in the Sloboda Palace, when he suddenly felt that wealth, and power, and life, everything that people arrange and cherish with such diligence - if all this is worth something, then only for the pleasure with which all this can be thrown.
It was that feeling, as a result of which a recruit hunter drinks the last penny, a drunken man breaks mirrors and glasses without any apparent reason and knowing that it would cost him his last money; that feeling, as a result of which a person, committing (in the vulgar sense) crazy deeds, as if tries his personal power and strength, declaring the presence of a higher, standing outside human conditions, judgment over life.
From the very day that Pierre first experienced this feeling in the Sloboda Palace, he was incessantly under his influence, but now he only found him complete satisfaction. In addition, at the present moment, Pierre was supported in his intention and deprived of the opportunity to renounce him by what he had already done along the way. And his flight from home, and his caftan, and the pistol, and his statement to Rostov that he was staying in Moscow - everything would not only lose its meaning, but all this would be contemptible and ridiculous (to which Pierre was sensitive), if after all this, like the others, he left Moscow.
The physical condition of Pierre, as always happens, coincided with the moral. Unaccustomed coarse food, the vodka he drank these days, the absence of wine and cigars, dirty, unchanged linen, half sleepless two nights spent on a short sofa without a bed - all this kept Pierre in a state of irritation close to insanity.

It was already two in the afternoon. The French have already entered Moscow. Pierre knew this, but instead of acting, he thought only about his enterprise, going over all its slightest future details. In his dreams, Pierre did not vividly imagine either the very process of striking, or the death of Napoleon, but with unusual brightness and with sad pleasure he imagined his death and his heroic courage.
“Yes, one for all, I must commit or perish! he thought. – Yes, I will come… and then suddenly… With a pistol or a dagger? thought Pierre. - However, it doesn't matter. Not I, but the hand of providence will execute you, I say (Pierre thought the words that he would utter when he killed Napoleon). Well, take it, execute me, ”Pierre said further to himself, with a sad but firm expression on his face, lowering his head.
While Pierre, standing in the middle of the room, was reasoning with himself in this way, the door of the study opened, and on the threshold appeared the completely changed figure of the always before timid Makar Alekseevich. His coat was open. The face was red and ugly. He was obviously drunk. Seeing Pierre, he was embarrassed at first, but, noticing the embarrassment on Pierre's face, he immediately cheered up and staggered thin legs went to the middle of the room.
“They are timid,” he said in a hoarse, trusting voice. - I say: I will not give up, I say ... right, sir? - He thought about it and suddenly, seeing a pistol on the table, unexpectedly quickly grabbed it and ran out into the corridor.
Gerasim and the janitor, who were following Makar Alekseich, stopped him in the hallway and began to take away the pistol. Pierre, going out into the corridor, looked with pity and disgust at this half-crazy old man. Makar Alekseevich, wincing with effort, held the pistol and shouted in a hoarse voice, apparently imagining something solemn.
- To arms! Aboard! You're lying, you won't take it away! he shouted.
- It will, please, it will. Do me a favor, please leave. Well, please, master ... - said Gerasim, carefully by the elbows trying to turn Makar Alekseich towards the door.

The Death Star is a Star Wars battle station capable of destroying planets. How much energy would it take for her tool to actually do this?

Introduction

By now, most likely, everyone has already heard about the release of a new part of the Star Wars series called Rogue One. This film has it all - a great cast and an incredible storyline. However, the main star, of course, is the moon-sized space station that everyone remembers from the original trilogy. From the moment the Death Star was spotted in the first trailers for the new film, fans around the world have been eagerly awaiting the release of this project. And as the film's aspiring director Orson Krennic pointed out, the power we're dealing with is immeasurable. However, for those who were responsible for the design and creation of weapons of mass destruction, the word "immeasurable" in relation to the power of these weapons does not seem scientific enough. That is why from this article you will learn all the numbers that could be associated with the Death Star.

Destruction of the city

In Rogue One, the Death Star is not yet complete. At the very beginning of the film, she is not yet endowed with her planet-destroying power by Oppenheimer's Star Wars counterpart, Galen Erso. One of the trailers shows her firing an energy beam towards one of the planets, dealing incredible damage but not destroying it. So how much energy would this superlaser need to destroy, say, a city? Let's take Washington DC as an example. Suppose the Death Star took a position directly above the city and attacked directly the geographical center locality. How much energy would be enough to level everything from the White House to the Pentagon to the ground? The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear bomb ever blown up. This weapon had a capacity of 50 megatons of TNT. If this bomb were detonated in downtown Washington, it would create a fireball 12 kilometers in diameter that would cover an area of ​​113 square kilometers. This would require 2.1 x 10 17 joules of energy from the laser.

Destruction of the continent

Now it's time to improve the performance of the Death Star and target an entire continent. During the formation of the Himalayas, the mass of a rather large continent was completely absorbed by the Earth's mantle and destroyed. Scientists have calculated that its weight was 450 quadrillion kilograms. Suppose a continent is made of granite and its surface temperature is 15 degrees. It is necessary to make it melt, which will happen at a temperature of 1260 degrees. How much energy would the Death Star need to melt an entire continent? Fortunately, there is an equation to calculate. Multiplying the change in temperature, mass and value, known as specific heat, scientists can calculate how much energy is required for a given change in temperature to occur. In this particular case, 4.4 x 10 23 joules is obtained. This number by itself is unlikely to tell you anything, so it's worth rephrasing: approximately this amount of energy was released during the collision of the meteorite that destroyed the dinosaurs, 66 million years ago.

ocean destruction

But what if the Death Star was used to destroy all marine animals by drying up the whole ocean for this? The same equation can be used to calculate how much energy it would take to destroy the ocean - thanks to science! The Pacific Ocean contains about 714 cubic kilometers of water. With a density of 1029 kilograms per cubic meter about 735 quintillion kilograms would need to be evaporated. average temperature surface is 17 degrees, and in order for the water in the ocean to boil, it must be heated to 102 degrees. Using the equation above, it can be calculated that the Death Star will need 2.4 x 10 26 joules of energy to completely vaporize Pacific Ocean. This is about 548 meteorites that killed all the dinosaurs. It turns out that it takes much more energy to evaporate water than it does to melt a continent. So if the Death Star is flying towards you, it's better to go underwater.

Destruction of the planet

According to the plot of the film, the plans for the Death Star were stolen, but now it has the ability to destroy entire planets in a split second, which could be seen in A New Hope. But in order for the superlaser to destroy the planet, it will need to overcome the resistance in the face of gravitational binding energy. This is the minimum amount of energy required for a spherical object to remain intact under the influence of gravity. If this value is exceeded by forces from outside, then the planet will simply be torn apart. Using the planet's mass, radius, and gravitational constant, another equation can be used to calculate the Earth's gravitational binding energy. It is 2.3 x 10 32 , which is approximately equal to 0.51 billion meteorites that killed the dinosaurs. That was the power of the Death Star before it was destroyed by the rebels.

Star destruction

Let's say Luke Skywalker failed to hit the Death Star's exhaust port with his proton torpedoes, and the Empire destroyed the Rebel base on the planet Yavin. The Empire continues to improve the Death Star so that it can destroy larger space bodies, such as the Sun. According to a complex mathematical concept called the virial theorem, the gravitational binding energy of a star is twice its internal thermal energy, which can also be calculated using an equation. It turns out that the binding energy of the Sun is 2.3 x 10 40 joules, that is, 52 quadrillion asteroids that killed the dinosaurs. Thus, in order to destroy the central star and thereby destabilize and destroy the entire solar system, The Death Star needs to become 102 times more powerful.

Destruction of the galaxy

Suppose the Empire went mad, went down the path of nihilism, and decided to destroy the entire Star Wars galaxy. Let's say that there are about the same number of stars in this galaxy as in the Milky Way, that is, from 100 to 400 billion. To destroy, for example, 250 billion stars, assuming, of course, that they are all similar to the Sun, 5.7 x 10 51 joules will be needed. One "standard" supernova emits about 1 x 1044 joules, so if the Death Star were to be destroyed Milky Way, then it would need to receive energy from 57.3 million supernovae. Still, it's good that the Rebels managed to steal the plans for the Death Star.