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How the Death Star works

science.howstuffworks.com — The biggest, most powerful and most evil space station ever. A nice description about how the Death Star and its awesome Super Laser would work, along with some interesting background information and some facts that were not mentioned in the movies.

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 2, 2005

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48 Comments

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  • danhuard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, most of the comments above this one are REALLY REALLY cynical. Why not just report it as lame instead of attacking fans of the movie? Just be nice!
  • egbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How it works... you get some very talented and motivated model builders, motion control camera operators, special effects technicians, machinist, ... Develop new cameras, motion control equipment, and new techniques. Spend weeks and weeks in a dark room setting up and filming the models...
  • XxN3RDC0R3xX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1*rubs toy Yoda doll*

    "It's ok baby, I'm sure mean old FamilyGuy and v0id didn't mean that.. they were just kidding! it's ok pookie.. everything will be alright"
  • ravage386, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"The general sector of each zone in the Death Star has a park, shopping centers and recreation areas that include restaurants, a cinema and fitness centers."

    What a nice family-oriented place to live.
  • jpturner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We had a Death Star once but the wheel came off. The contractor was Halliburton.
  • bakatrinh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The Superlaser's power needs to be recharged between blasts, limiting it to only one planet-destroying beam per day"

    Dang
  • EagleX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is the kinda stuff they should be teaching in the schools.
  • EliGottlieb, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So does "Howstuffworks" actually explain any real technology these days at all? The last thing on there was "How Zombies Work", now this.
  • FamilyGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0LOL to xxn3rdc0r3xx! :) That's awesome.
  • wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I noted that the complement of the Death Star did not include the contractors and civil service workers. What about the contractors? Don't they count.
  • Sofa_King_Jank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"It takes more than a million people to operate the Death Star and there is room for over a billion people on board."
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I've always wondered how the mechanics of this old bean worked!"
  • TheStooge1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0So are you implying that this didn't REALLY happen?
  • mcsweeney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0My Slow death, dardan..., not "kill people." Besides, if I did, It wouldn't be killing, it'd be murder.
  • cheech26, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Things like this make me realize that all the sex and drugs I had in college really wasn't a waste after all.
  • unclejesse0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That was a pretty cool article. Family Guy you're a loser. I liked the guys essay about the trash compactor. Read it
  • bossm4n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@masterzora:

    "I StumbledUpon this before and thumbs-upped it. It just doesn't belong here."

    I guess 400+ other diggers disagree with you. Like has been said so many times before, if you don't like the story just report it as such or move on to another digg. I've seen tons of other sci-fi related stories out here. Why beat up on this one?

  • NineLives, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've never cared for Starwars but wow thats a lot of detail.
  • republicoftexas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anybody have any real good pics of the death star?
  • BryanBowden, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Death Star? I don't think it would be too bad living there, unless when you came back to Earth you found a planet controlled by Apes....

    Wait a minuet.. Statue of Liberty….

    You blew it up…. Damn you…. Damn you all to HELL.
  • mcsweeney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Also, dardan...quit sucking.
  • TKDWILSON, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"""""The general sector of each zone in the Death Star has a park, shopping centers and recreation areas that include restaurants, a cinema and fitness centers."

    What a nice family-oriented place to live."""""""

    You know, something always bothered me about the second death star. You know, the first one was already completed, no problem there, but the second one was not already completed. That means that there were contractor workers on that one. You think that the troopers knew how to install a toilet? Of course not.

    Eric Wilson (stolen idea from...can you guess it or remember it??)

  • DardanAeneas, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Only "42,782 ship support staff" for the 1,161,293 stationed onboard... I didn't think so... but then again, with all the robots and automation, maybe they didn't need so much support staff a long time ago in a galaxy far away!

    Major contradiction warning!!: "The Death Star's Superlaser derives power directly from the hypermatter reactor. ... the Superlaser is like a series of large magnifying glasses focusing the entire power of the reactor (which is like a small sun) into one huge beam to destroy a planet" & "The Superlaser's power needs to be recharged between blasts, limiting it to only one planet-destroying beam per day." I smell Imperial cover-up.
  • bluehouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The best thing about the Death Star is the dudes who fire the big laser. This laser shoots out from the Death Star and can blow up planets so you gotta figure it's hot. The workers just stand there and cover their heads while it goes by them. Those guys should melt!!!
  • MassaYoda, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm amused. Taking bets on if Lucas bribed HowStuffWorks to get cheap advertising for the released-yesterday Episode 3. On second though, were he smart enough to do that he could have directed his way out of a wet paper bag...
  • thicke, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I really preferred their article on how zombies work. It was very enlightening.
  • mcsweeney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The comments on digg stories are either witty, cynical witty, angry witty, funny witty, or can't spell a lick witty. Everyone's a tough guy/al on-line.

    One big death beam is for efficient Alliances or Germans. Personally I'm a fan of a slow death by eating like *****, driving a car, staying up late, and hopefully coming in contact with some asbestos or radiation down the road.
  • DardanAeneas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Are you *the* McSweeney, and, if so, why do you want to kill people in slow-death ways?
  • Zippo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Some people have way too much time. Why can't they just spend it watching porn like the rest of us?
  • QuorumCall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Every podcast they call digg a tech and social bookmarking website.

    However, stuff from howstuffworks.com shouldn't posted. Maybe when the site was first discovered by a digg user you post it and say "check out this website" but I'm sure thats already happened.
  • v0id, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Enough starwars news already. I'm sure 97% of the world is glad the movies are over with. Can we move on to a new movie already?
  • bossm4n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Get a sense of humor or get laid. I don't care where it came from, it was still a fun read. Geez, does everything in this site have to be technical info on?
  • DardanAeneas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@ Masterzora: just what would you put in the "movies" category? The site is about technology, and this is a creative application of what we currently know about technology and design applied to the end-result we see in a movie. Sure, it's fake, but it gets you thinking about it in a whole new way (if you're smart enough to understand what is going on in the article... yeah cheap shot).
  • FamilyGuy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1The only people that will actually be curious about the operation of the ever-so-amazing and incredible Death Star are people that have nothing better to do than take movies WAY too seriously. You know, to the guys and gals who really are interested in this post, there is still time left to get a life! Go now! Before it's too late!
  • republicoftexas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You guys need to get out more.
  • masterzora, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@dardanaeneas:
    This site is about technology news. I repeat technology *news*. I would put in the category movies news that is related to the technology of movies. Frankly, HowStuffWorks is not news.
  • masterzora, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0@bossm4n:
    "I guess 400+ other diggers disagree with you. Like has been said so many times before, if you don't like the story just report it as such or move on to another digg. I've seen tons of other sci-fi related stories out here. Why beat up on this one?"

    Let see... we have the word of the FAQ of Digg versus (664 as of now) people whose intelligences and literacy skills we do not know (and, thereby, many or all of these people may qualify to be called "idiots"). Last I checked, the official word from the proprieters of this site trumps 664 possible idiots.

    I told you, it's not a problem of liking or not; if it was I would move on. This is a problem of belonging or not, which needs to be addressed. Digg is already becoming a crapfest, and that must be stopped if possible. I'm trying to stop it.

    Oh, and, for the record, this isn't the only one I beat up on. It just happened to be the most prominent. Besides, it was more the "HowStuffWorks" than the "Sci-Fi" that was the problem.
  • FamilyGuy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Is it only me, masterzora, and like three or four other people that actually understand that this post doesn't belong on this blasted site? I thank you, masterzora, for fighting for the non-followers. Just because this is about SciFi or falls under the category of a movie doesn't make it a proper post. HowStuffWorks just isn't news!
  • FamilyGuy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0People really just don't understand this site at all. Maybe you guys should visit Slashdot for a little while. ALL of those posts belong on that site, and those are the kinds of posts that SHOULD be on this site, it's just unfortunate that more idiots have control over what gets posted here.
  • Spaztic, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0People take movies way to seriously...
  • masterzora, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0@Bossm4n:
    No. Everything on this site has to be technology news. Hence the line in the FAQ (http://www.digg.com/faq) that says "Digg is a technology news website". Does it get any more clear?

    Oh, and why is it that everybody's answer on Digg to every problem is "get laid"?

    Oh, and I do have a sense of humor. I StumbledUpon this before and thumbs-upped it. It just doesn't belong here. Capisce?
  • masterzora, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Okay, so you discovered HowStuffWorks. Congratulations, welcome to the Internet. Get this crap off Digg.
  • XxN3RDC0R3xX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Hey! FamilyGuy! You're a douche!

    Because someone is interested in learning more about a fictional item.. they automatically have no life? Go sit on a knife, ass hat.

    If you don't like it, leave it alone.
  • FamilyGuy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0LOL, I wonder what an ass hat would look like... It would probably be more interesting to talk about those than about the lame Star Wars series.
  • aiiee, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0begone dweebs

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