MovieChat Forums > Andor (2022) Discussion > Can a Star Destroyer really fly so low?

Can a Star Destroyer really fly so low?

posted a year ago by TandyMan (10393)
10 replies | jump to latest

I feel like Star Destroyers wouldn't be able to cruise around a planet's surface like a regular old biplane. They strike me as a space only sort of super craft. There's such massive gravity vs mass physics involved. I imagine after decades of expanded universe they had these things doing all kinds of impossible stuff. I just don't imagine these things ever cruising through the atmosphere. I mean they got all the shuttles and transports and things. If it could just fly down to the surface, why have all that stuff?

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

We actually went over this on another thread, and I'm going to hold by my earlier statement that I'm okay with Star Destroyers getting low to the ground, as was shown in "Rogue One". Partly because anti-gravity technology seems to be so cheap and widely available that Galactic society has pretty much abandoned the wheel, and even broke farmboys can afford a hovering car... and partly because the destroyer hovering menacingly over the rockbound city looked so damn cool.

https://www.coffeewithkenobi.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/h66pdyd50xoy.jpg

But mainly, it's because ships that can't land on a planet's surface are a Trek thing.

[–] TandyMan (10393) a year ago

It definitely looks cool and the Empire was all about intimidation. Good point about anti-grav tech. They pretty much got that stuff in everything. Even the better droids are flying around all over the place.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Seriously, did we ever see anyone use a wheeled vehicle, except the Jawas?

[–] Volley (3368) a year ago

Imperial-class and Victory-class Star Destroyers were space-faring only in the old 1977-2014 universe, other than the ISD in the hit Force Unleashed game and the Lusankya SSD taking off from Coruscant in the X-Wing novels.

It definitely doesn’t make much sense to have these things flying around in atmosphere, I don’t care how many repulsorlifts they have.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

Obviously it makes sense that they don't land on planetary surfaces, they don't have flat bottoms and trying to balance anything of that mass on struts or something would not only be impossible in terms of internal load-bearing... they'd damage whatever surfaces they landed on.

But I don't see why they can't enter an atmosphere and hover! Maybe it's not something they prefer to do, because it probably requires a lot of power to hover over a city intimidatingly, but why shouldn't that be an option in a galaxy where anti-gravity tech is cheap and universally available. Even the USS Enterprise C circa Kirk could survive entering an atmosphere.

[–] FootOfDavros (6791) a year ago

Imperial-class and Victory-class Star Destroyers were space-faring only in the old 1977-2014 universe...

Don't we see their precursors taking off at the end of AOTC?

[–] Volley (3368) a year ago

Indeed, those were the much smaller Venator-class, I think at that point George figured might as well have them take off from the staging area on Coruscant, I believe those were also KDY (Kuat Drive Yards) starships, at the time (Legends) they would have been built at the orbital facility around Kuat in the Core Systems.

[–] FootOfDavros (6791) a year ago

Interesting, thanks - Had no idea they were meant to be smaller. Just thought they'd been styled differently to look like previous versions for the prequels...

[–] Martoto (4254) a year ago

Repulsorlift/Anti gravity has been in Star Wars from the beginning. The first time it was really shown in a movie for a massive ship though was in Attack Of The Clones when they showed the TF droid control ships on Geonosis and then the Republic destroyers loading up and flying off to war at the end.

Deal with it.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

It's a relatively new thing.

It's said in the expanded universe that to fly in atmosphere they use a lot of power, and overall it's generally not an easy thing to do. It wouldn't take much to knock them out of the sky comparatively. If they hit the ground, they won't be coming back up.

Thus in combat situations, they don't. Like on Hoth, had they taken them into the atmosphere the rebels ion canon would have totalled the battle group.