So I have seen this about everywhere, where it talks about the Death Star and what not. How stupid of them it was to have an exhaust port, and then you go on and on about people saying

 

"Well if they didn't put the port there, the DS would have been fine."

 

Or something of that variant or saying it was useless, whichever. Now I know a lot just take that as a joke, which is fine and everything...but I am still wanting to clear up something.

 

The Death Star was completely SAFE!

 

Yes it was safe, now lets take a look at possibly the most obvious sign of it being completely safe.

 

 

Now if you watch that, you see Red Leader get within range of the target having it dead on before firing his proton torpedoes. Yet what happens? They miss!

 

Now you may say "Oh well the computer maybe off with calculations and what not." To which I ask, ok how? Its got a success rate of 98.7% so rarely(if ever) should it ever miss.The computer wasn't the problem, it was how big the exhaust port was which was really small(2 meters wide).

 

The only way it was possible to be even destroyed was because of Luke and his ability to use The Force, telling his proton torpedoes where to go doing something that the computer couldn't do.

 

So really folks...the Death Star was completely safe from harm.

Edited December 13, 2012 by Wolfninjajedi

You're right. The Death Star was safe. Luke was the only pilot that could destroy it because he had the Force.

 

Though we also have to take into account that one of Tarkin's officers (forget who) was concerned that the rebels may have a chance. Tarkin fully believed in the Death Star's defenses and waved the officer off. So there was some concern, but not from Tarkin.

You're right. The Death Star was safe. Luke was the only pilot that could destroy it because he had the Force.

 

Though we also have to take into account that one of Tarkin's officers (forget who) was concerned that the rebels may have a chance. Tarkin fully believed in the Death Star's defenses and waved the officer off. So there was some concern, but not from Tarkin.

 

True, but there is always concern about anything really.

Vader blew it. Never mind stopping people from dying---he couldn't protect a two-meter-wide exhaust port! Edited December 13, 2012 by BradTheImpaler

Vader blew it. Never mind stopping people from dying---he couldn't protect a two-meter-wide exhaust port!

 

Exactly.

 

Poor construction sealed the deal.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Pirana

The lack of guard rails on platforms over near-bottomless chasms leads me to object to any claims of safety wrt the Death Star...

 

The computer doesn't fire the weapon for you, it's a targeting system. The pilot still makes the shot himself, and it's still very possible for them to miss. It was well established that it would be a difficult shot to make, but you didn't necessarily need the force to do it.

 

Luke used the force so that he could make the shot without using the targeting system at all. He didn't so much control or move the torpedo as much as he took aim and fired with the aid of the force, he was able to feel where to shoot without the targeting computer. Which was an amazing feet.

 

Had they not been under fire, extreme stress, and had enough people making attempts I wouldn't of been surprised at all to see a non-force user make the shot.

 

It wasn't really a design flaw, it was a single exhaust port that was probably necessary with the original design. While they should of put a flat or some kind of shielding on it, you have to keep in mind it would of been impossible for any large or typical fleet combat ship to fire in to it. Further more, small ships have an extremely difficult time flying over the surface of the Deathstar. Even furthermore, the only reason they knew where to fire is because they had the Deathstar schematics; otherwise they wouldn't of even known where it was.

Edited December 14, 2012 by LegendaryBlade

Blowing up an entire space station with a couple of shots is the epitome of a design flaw, regardless of how it was achieved. Proving the Death Star was not out of harms way, or it would have endured.

 

I do agree though, with enough attempts it would have gone poof sooner or later, force user or not. Either way, that's how the story was written.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Pirana

The lack of guard rails on platforms over near-bottomless chasms leads me to object to any claims of safety wrt the Death Star...

 

 

Haha!

Space stations, like submarines and warships, are quite fragile if attacking in the correct manner. One good shot through the ammunition magazine, or the fuel tanks, can destroy even the largest vessel.

 

Needless to say, the rebels analyzed the schematics and found the best spot to hit the station, which was the reactor.

The exhaust port was a design flaw but they knew that at the time of completion it wouldn't matter that a thermal exhaust port that was 2 meters wide because they would have the defenses to keep it safe, when the rebels destroyed the death star, the Empire corrected their mistake by building a death star with hundreds of smaller exhaust ports. The ports are to vent heat from the hyper-matter reactor. If they put particle shields over it (which is what defends you from missiles and debris) the heat would not be able to get out and the death star would self destruct. They had regular energy shields protecting it so only missiles were able to go through the port. The second death star would have been invincible when it was completed because it had no exploitable weakness. Edited December 15, 2012 by hyperdragon

Meh, it WAS a design flaw, but mostly a plot driver.

Thing is, you could have easily avoided this. Just build one or two 90 degree turns into the exhaust port, the torpedo would have exploded on the way down. Even if the heat would build up, there should be enough time to power down.

And why not build multiple, secured exhausts?

Even putting a Laser Beam or grid into the port would have destroyed the torpedo.

If we take this seriously, whoever build this should be fed to the sarlacc.

But, as we all know, it is a plot element. Though they COULD have found something more plausible. Maybe fireing into one of the mainweapon-laser-channels? They were big enough.....

I guess the Empire has not learn the usefulness of hatches yet.