Could the Death Star survive a hit from it's own superweapon

[Sothis]

That's basically the question I want to ask- assume a giant mirror reflects the DS's blast back at it- can it's shields hold?

[Darth Garden Gnome]

assume a giant mirror reflects the DS's blast back at it

Let's not because that's stupid.

can it's shields hold?

No.

[Joe]

Given that the Death Star superlaser would vaporize any mirror it passed through, a better way to phrase this situation would be "could a Death Star survive a blast from another Death Star?" And the answer is no.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

It would just blow up the mirror, since it's not a photonic laser.

Better would be to say that there are two identical DSIs and one fires at the other.

The answer is no, by the way.

[Sharp-kun]

It would just blow up the mirror, since it's not a photonic laser.

Even a magic mirror?



The answer as said, is no.

[Sothis]

Awwww, you mean not even the 5000KM mirror I built could do it?

[YT300000]

Which DS? The first can only fire full-power blasts, while the others can be put to weaker setttings.

If it's a full-power blast, as the previous 4 people have said, no. The explanation is simple: Alderaan's shields were stronger than the DS shields, and it was much more massive. But the blast annihilated it, sending chunks away at half the speed of light.

A weaker blast, like a capship-level one, and the DS might survive.

[Chardok]

Awwww, you mean not even the 5000KM mirror I built could do it?

someone sounds just like... like...No, I musn't say it.

[Kuja]

That's basically the question I want to ask- assume a giant mirror reflects the DS's blast back at it- can it's shields hold?

No. When even a planetary shield like Alderaan's can't withstand a blast from the DS, there's no way in hell the DS itself can do it.

[FTeik]

Why not?

If the DS can produce enough power for the superlaser it can also produce enough power for its shields. So the question wouldn´t be about power, but if the DS would have enough shield-generators/projectors to direct that power through.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Why not?

If the DS can produce enough power for the superlaser it can also produce enough power for its shields. So the question wouldn´t be about power, but if the DS would have enough shield-generators/projectors to direct that power through.

False.

[Ender]

Why not?

If the DS can produce enough power for the superlaser it can also produce enough power for its shields. So the question wouldn´t be about power, but if the DS would have enough shield-generators/projectors to direct that power through.

False.

Wow, that was a stunning rebuttal. Thank you Darkstar.


All we've ever seen from the DS in terms of shields is a lower limit. As was pointed out, it will have more power to throw into powering shields then a planet. In addition, a fleet of sufficient size can knock down planetary shields, whereas the defenses of the DS are sufficient to rebel "any assault".

I wouldn't give a direct yay/nay answer to this, but we really don't know.

[FTeik]

Why not?

If the DS can produce enough power for the superlaser it can also produce enough power for its shields. So the question wouldn´t be about power, but if the DS would have enough shield-generators/projectors to direct that power through.

False.

Conceeded, since you have such a convincing argument.

Ehh, wait a moment ... what argument?

[Howedar]

In addition, a fleet of sufficient size can knock down planetary shields, whereas the defenses of the DS are sufficient to rebel "any assault".

If you want to operate on such statements as that, the Rebel shield in TESB could deflect "any bombardment".

[Sharp-kun]

Why not?

If the DS can produce enough power for the superlaser it can also produce enough power for its shields. So the question wouldn´t be about power, but if the DS would have enough shield-generators/projectors to direct that power through.

Its not even so much the number of them, but could they handle it? Remember that the superlaser is a special weapon. Its built to take the extreme stress that firing it would cause. Shield generators aren't.

[Kerneth]

It's like this. In order to calculate how much energy the Death Star would require to survive a hit from its own superweapon, we'd first have to know how much energy is required to create a shield capable of stopping a given beam. It may well require far less energy to generate a 1kt bolt than it would require to put up a shield capable of stopping that 1kt bolt; in fact, this is almost certainly the case, else snubfighters capable of rapid-firing their laser cannons would be able to transfer all power to shields and be effectively immune to lasers fired from another fighter.

After we determine the energy requirements, we'd then have to know what % of the Death Star's generator's output is required to generate the blast. If it requires 75% of the power output for the generator to create a blast capable of destroying another Death Star, and it requires twice as much energy to create a shield capable of deflecting that same amount of energy, then the Death Star obviously can't survive an attack from another Death Star.

Even then, we'd have to keep in mind that SW shields aren't just put in place right before an attack hits then taken back down; instead, they have to be maintained, which doubtless also requires a certain amount of energy, and a continual power feed, while the Death Star's main gun fires its planetkiller beam once then requires time to recharge.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

That's basically the question I want to ask- assume a giant mirror reflects the DS's blast back at it- can it's shields hold?

If two DS1s fired at each other, then they would probably destroy each other. Recall that in the movie the Imperials closed to a certain distance (six planetary diameters, I think) to Alderaan and then blew it up. They didn't get closer than that. They also didn't seek to get right on top of the Yavin 4 moon when they were planning on blowing that one up.

And, using some vaguely remembered numbers from the Technical Commentaries, the DS superlaser blast was something on the order of 1E+32 to 1E+38 joules. The explosive energy they would've had to sustain at Alderaan was only 1E+26 joules, or about six to twelve orders of magnetude less than the energy required to destroy the planet.

Thus, if we assume that the DS1 was maintaining a distance from it's targets that it's shields could easily handle, then we can guesstimate that it's shields could withstand no more than perhaps an order of magnitude more energy than we saw them absorb at Alderaan.

So short answer: No.

[Ender]

It's like this. In order to calculate how much energy the Death Star would require to survive a hit from its own superweapon, we'd first have to know how much energy is required to create a shield capable of stopping a given beam. It may well require far less energy to generate a 1kt bolt than it would require to put up a shield capable of stopping that 1kt bolt; in fact, this is almost certainly the case, else snubfighters capable of rapid-firing their laser cannons would be able to transfer all power to shields and be effectively immune to lasers fired from another fighter.

Actually, its exactly the opposite. It takes far less energy to stop the blast then it does to produce it. If this were not the casse theatre shields like those we observe in the movie wouldn't work. The Hoth shield would have long ago melted all the snow and incinerated the base if it had to pour exotons of energy intot he environment to stop a full fleet bombardment

[Admiral_K]

Having the energy to generate a field strong enough to deflect a Deathstar blast, and having the neccessary hardware to create and project the shield are two different things.

If warships could put as much energy into shields as they could into their weapons, then the weapons should in theory never be able to overcome the shields.

[Ender]

Having the energy to generate a field strong enough to deflect a Deathstar blast, and having the neccessary hardware to create and project the shield are two different things.

If warships could put as much energy into shields as they could into their weapons, then the weapons should in theory never be able to overcome the shields.

If it re-radiated with 100% eficiency, yes, but nothing is 100% efficient. that's how shileds get worn down despite the threshold dissapation. Wouldn't be an issue here because if it did survive the hit it would have plenty of time to dump the heat.

[Uraniun235]

I think a better question would be, Could the Empire deploy a shield system powerful enough to protect against even a Death Star?

[Sharp-kun]

I think a better question would be, Could the Empire deploy a shield system powerful enough to protect against even a Death Star?

If they really tried, probably. But what's the point?

[Uraniun235]

Well, what's the point of asking if a Death Star could survive a shot from another Death Star? They're both highly unlikely scenarios.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Well, what's the point of asking if a Death Star could survive a shot from another Death Star? They're both highly unlikely scenarios.

And Star Wars vs Star Trek isn't?

[Cyborg Stan]

And, using some vaguely remembered numbers from the Technical Commentaries, the DS superlaser blast was something on the order of 1E+32 to 1E+38 joules. The explosive energy they would've had to sustain at Alderaan was only 1E+26 joules, or about six to twelve orders of magnetude less than the energy required to destroy the planet.

e32 J range for the Gravitational Binding Energy of the Planet (ie, the minimum energy needed to scatter the mass so none of it can pull back together using gravity alone) and e38 J range for the actual event (flinging pieces of the planet at extremely high speeds)