"First rule in government spending: Why build one when you can build two for twice the price?"

- SR Hadden in "Contact"

Nice backpaddling there. Anyway, sorry for my reply being a bit late. I have to live a life from time to time.

Anyway; I've read those "technical commentaries" several times in the last couple of years and it is a good laugh indeed, especially for an ex-student of physics who knows that physics as well as proper sciences don't mean shit in Star Wars realizing that some nerds take their Star Wars so damn seriously... Nevertheless, the 900 km diameter number was indeed mentioned only in relation to the "scale" argument, which doesn't hold any water, and the CINEFEX report and ITW, which I consider to be EU.
There you have it.

So please play nice and don't get your panties in a bunch over trivial things like these. Star Wars is just a fantasy world and personally I only care for exact sciences in the real world out there.

You´re switching sides and feigning ignorance due to it being "just a fantasy world". Well then, stop posing with false numbers if you don´t care for them either way. It shouldn´t be difficult if it´s just make-believe.

I usually enjoy your posts, so calm down again.

I participated in this thread because I don't care for EU and I was quite sure the 160 km scale WAS indeed canon.

But after being attacked personally, I had to defend myself, hairsplitting included.

(Nor was there ever any problem with it from me. I´m sorry if it appeared that way.)

what up everyone this is my first post....got banned by that ******* goon bobthegoon....am i allowed to curse here?

anyway, just one question which has probably been disccussed already, but why does it take 20 some years to finish the first Death Star, when the Death Star II is ready in like 3 or 4? Was the Empire already working on the second one prior to a New Hope?

I'm sure it would take longer for the second one because they lost a good deal of henchman and cronies with the loss of DSI.

so what's the deal?

..but why does it take 20 some years to finish the first Death Star, when the Death Star II is ready in like 3 or 4?

Like Vanda, I initially thought it would be a bad idea seeing the DS, as it would pose a large discrepancy between construction times for the DS and DS2. However, others have made the point that in ROTJ, the DS2 is not yet complete... visual observation would seem to indicate it is only about 60% complete. Since ROTJ takes place 4 years after ANH, this would mean the DS2, from start to completion, would probably have taken 7 years (assuming an average completion rate of 15% per year).

That being said, I don't think it's altogether implausible that construction time for the DS2 could be reduced to slightly less than half the time it took to construct the first DS. The main reasons for this are:

1) there is a 19 year gap for technology to improve

2) Palpatine undoubtedly has more resources upon which to draw while constructing the DS2 (with the Empire being as powerful as it is at this point)

3) Palpatine no longer has to keep it secret and can therefore divert as many resources as possible to expedite the construction process (the scroll in ANH does say the plans were "secret", therefore leading me to believe that construction of the DS was being done quietly with neither the Senate nor the galaxy at large being aware of it. This being the case, Palpatine could not dump countless sums of money into the project for fear it would be discovered. Rather it is more likely he quietly channelled funds into the project in such a way as to not draw the attention of outside parties).

4) Having built the original DS would have provided the engineers a template from which to construct the DS2 more quickly (i.e., the DS2 wasn't being constructed "blindly" as was the case with the first DS).

LMAO

Seeing people get this worked up about the physical properties of the DS and the varying timescales involved in the construction of moon-sized battle stations is hilarious.

It's going to be a cool moment it the film... so shut up and like it already!

It's going to be a cool moment it the film... so shut up and like it already!

And better question: who cares? Completely worthless argument.

Have a little damn respect for yourselves, kids.

but EU doesnt count....

Then when Lucas tries to give them an explanation, they whine about how they didn't need an explanation.

First of all, can you tell me how long it should take to build a Death Star in a fantasy world?

As for how long it took the second Death Star to be built, when and where did the films ever say it took only 3-4 years to build.

Besides, it's obvious that the second Death Star is not finished. Take on look at the picture. It's obviously in mid-construction.

You'd think they'd build the death star from the inside-out. At least the structure itself