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Mike:
My close friend brought up an interesting point, and I was wondering if you could explain it.

He brought up the interesting point that if the Star Wars fighters and similar vehicles like the Falcon and the rebel gallofree medium transports can reach speeds that are incrediblely fast without the use of hyperdrive, then what exactly is preventing the crew and pilots of these craft from being killed by Newton's Laws of Motion. I am curious because in Star Trek the "inertial Dampers" keep the crew from being killed by these forces? What in Star Wars keeps the same thing from happening? Please correct me if this is on the main site and I just missed it.

Thanks in advance.

Think Wars can't have inertial dampeners either?

They have inertial compensators, which is basically the same thing. They work using the same principles and handwavium technology that creates artificial gravity. Some fighter-craft, particularly TIEs, are capable of manouvers so intense, that even with the compensators, the pilots are at a very real risk of injuring, or even killing, themselves.

In the EU, it's noted that the compensators can be set to various levels, also. This occurs most notably in the X-Wing novels, where a couple pilots' personal settings are mentioned, and it's said that Porkins tended to keep his turned low because of his bulk, possibly leading him to believe he was recovering when he was continuing to descend towards the Death Star.

I believe they're originally called acceleration compensators in the Thrawn Trilogy, brought over from the 4 page X-Wing blueprint spread in WEG's Star Wars Sourcebook. I think later writers might have Trekked the term into inertial dampers and whatnots.

What kind of question is that anyway? In the movies, ships show incredible acceleration, and noone gets turned to jelly. I mean, it's not rocket science - OBVIOUSLY there's a mechanism at work to prevent that. Or do people argue that there aren't (since noone says anything about them) so the movies are 'wrong' and people 'should' be killed every time the light the main drives?

Thanks to everyone who replied. I really appreciate it.

Stark wrote:What kind of question is that anyway? In the movies, ships show incredible acceleration, and noone gets turned to jelly. I mean, it's not rocket science - OBVIOUSLY there's a mechanism at work to prevent that. Or do people argue that there aren't (since noone says anything about them) so the movies are 'wrong' and people 'should' be killed every time the light the main drives?

Stark, OBVIOUSLY (:roll:) no one is arguing that the movies are wrong. I know that something is preventing them from being turned into jelly, I just didn't know exactly what the mechanism was or what it was called. My question was
"What in Star Wars keeps the same thing from happening?", not "is there something to keep this from happening."

Davis 51 wrote: Stark, OBVIOUSLY (:roll:) no one is arguing that the movies are wrong.

There was a debate on Startrek.com were a guy call JMThairball (or something) said that the death star used a non DET method and once said that GL changed the wrong thing when making the new edition (about Alderan blowing up).

Glimmervoid wrote:

Davis 51 wrote: Stark, OBVIOUSLY (:roll:) no one is arguing that the movies are wrong.

There was a debate on Startrek.com were a guy call JMThairball (or something) said that the death star used a non DET method and once said that GL changed the wrong thing when making the new edition (about Alderan blowing up).

ROFL! Now THAT'S funny.

I meant no one here, but this is just too much. People actually say that the movies are wrong? I guess my mother was right when she said that 97% of the world is comprised of idiots. Then again, this guy is the last 3% all by himself.

The Dark wrote:In the EU, it's noted that the compensators can be set to various levels, also. This occurs most notably in the X-Wing novels, where a couple pilots' personal settings are mentioned, and it's said that Porkins tended to keep his turned low because of his bulk, possibly leading him to believe he was recovering when he was continuing to descend towards the Death Star.

Actually it was because his compensator was at full that he didn't realise he wasn't pulling him. This was in Stackpole's Rogue Squadron Novel. It also mentions porkins colliding with the Death Star. (does this happen in the novel or comic adaptions? Cos it doesn't happen in the film)

IIRC it shows an explosion on the surface of the Death Star, and the following dialogue indicates that it was definitely Porkins' X-Wing impacting. I'm weak on that point, though, so by all means correct me if my memory is faulty.

Elheru Aran wrote:IIRC it shows an explosion on the surface of the Death Star, and the following dialogue indicates that it was definitely Porkins' X-Wing impacting. I'm weak on that point, though, so by all means correct me if my memory is faulty.

I believe it was a side tracking shot of the X-wing already starting to break up into fiery debris as some Death Star towers are seen moving quickly across the shot. Since the explosion occured when the camera was on Porkins in the cockpit, it's not entirely visually clear onscreen what caused the X-wing to blow up.

Well, it's possible that he clipped a tower, which caused him to start breaking up, but the bulk of the X-wing remained intact until he imapcted with the surface.