Tag: technology

What types of scans can be done on planets from space? How do those works and what information would it return? I’m wondering specifically about life forms but also anything else that could be conceivably and reasonably be done by a small ship on reconnaissance mission.

It depends on the individual sensor, but the main issue will be range. Many sensors are capable of operating from orbit (though the height of the orbit will depend on the planet’s mass and the ship’s velocity, it will be a relatively small distance for most sensor types), but may need a large receptor dish to do so effectively. Pretty much any type of sensor can be used on a planet from orbit, but you may have trouble with a smaller ship.

Life form indicators (LFIs) are not actually sensors in and of themselves, but computer programs that take data from other sensors and interpret it to come to a conclusion. A full-spectrum transceiver is used, because they are designed to detect all types of objects, energy, and fields. When interpreted by the LFI, they will return such information as temperature, motion, mass, and the life support settings of a ship (including atmosphere and gravity).

Because full-spectrum transceivers are so broad, they aren’t very sensitive, and a large receptor dish is needed for long-range scans. The LFI is only as good as the sensors, so a ship without room for a large dish will have trouble getting an accurate reading from a planet. (Additionally, I do not know whether an LFI would be able to distinguish between beings on a planet. I can’t think of an example of someone scanning a planet for species or population. However, the full-spectrum transceivers would be able to detect large concentrations of beings by their heat signatures and, depending, may not need to be totally accurate, so if this is useful information to have then you probably could get it from the sensors of a small reconnaissance ship.)

Other types of sensors that could be used on a planet include: electro-photo receptors, which combine visible light, ultraviolet, and infrared to form a hologram (only useful at short ranges); dedicated energy receptors, which detect electromagnetic emissions, including comlink transmissions, navigational beacons, heat, and laser light (these are what are used to detect enemy communications); and crystal gravfield traps, which detect gravitational fluctuations such as the presence of a ship or a planet. All these sensors could conceivably be installed on a small ship, though CGTs are rare and expensive. 

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

How do shield generators work?

It depends on the type of shield, but a standard deflector shield generator works by creating a force field extending outwards from the surface of the projector, surrounding the vessel or other construction. (Often, this includes both ray and particle shielding, protecting from energy and solid objects respectively.) The shield then acts to diffuse the energy applied to it, kinetic and thermal, and re-radiate it back into the environment. Commonly, a ship’s shielding actually permeates the hull in a series of energy layers that extend out several centimeters. I know that’s not terribly specific, sorry, but the actual physics of the generator are not fully explained. 

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

Can you explain ion beams taking out the electricity on ships ?

Ion cannons fire ionized particles or plasma, which interfere with a ship’s electronic systems when discharged. The blast is meant to short out the circuitry, often causing permanent damage due to the heat, in order to disable the ship.  (This is also why ion beams are capable of taking out shields, by overloading the shield generator.) In some cases, especially with a large crew available, the damage can be repaired and the ship can start flying again relatively quickly.

~ Jacen

Would it ever be possible to use as a defense the propagation of a virus or reverse hack into an astromech as it links up to a central computer?

I’m no expert on computers, but we have seen this sort of thing before. In one episode of Rebels, the Empire manages to take control of Chopper and use him as a spy after he hooks up to an Imperial data port. From what I know of viruses (in the real world), it could be possible for a droid to get one if it downloaded something containing it. From what I know of them in Star Wars, one could hack into a droid using an artificially intelligent virus, and use that to take over its systems or search through its memory files.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

Is there a way to time a tractor beam? In Rebels, Hera gets Darth Vader caught up in the tractor beam of a star destroyer all because she evaded it?

I expect there is a way to program a targeting computer to activate a tractor beam in response to some sort of stimulus, but in the case of that incident I would guess that the beam operator simply got the wrong target while trying to capture Hera. A tractor beam is projected in much the same way a turbolaser is fired, by which I mean that an operator and/or a computer must get a lock on a target first in order to increase their chances of hitting it. If the ship’s evasive maneuvers work well enough, the operator may be unable to get that lock. 

~ Jacen

Do you know of any tech that exists to stop a control takeover like how han locked on to the falcon in TFA?

In this case, a simple tractor beam was used. There are ways to counter it, but they aren’t so common. If the ship has a shroud fitted, it will be able to disrupt the tracking lock of the tractor beam and escape. Naturally, they don’t come standard. A very small, fast ship may be able to outmaneuver the beam, if it can outrun the targeting computer or operator. Damage to the tractor beam or power systems may also weaken or shut off the beam. 

~ Jacen

With hyperspace tracking and gravity wells, do you imagine they will come up with new defences for lightspeed travel and what could they do?

The funny thing about travelling in hyperspace is that, if you’re fast enough, you can overtake the ship you’re chasing and they won’t know it until they drop out again. With the ability to predict the course a ship or a fleet will take through hyperspace, anyone with a gravity well projector could theoretically not only pull it back into realspace, they could do it anywhere along the path, provided they can reach it first. I expect you could also reroute a ship equipped with a gravity well projector into the path, if your own ships weren’t fast enough. If the First Order acquired an Interdictor-class Star Destroyer, for example, they could drop the Resistance fleet right in the middle of their navy. 

I’m sure there are other creative uses for those two technologies, but that’s what came to my mind. 

~ Jacen

How do communication channels work in Star Wars? Is it like here, you have to be on the same frequency? How did Poe contact Hux? How do they block unwanted listeners?

I’m afraid there is some confusion surrounding this subject. Essentially, different comm channels allow one to talk to different people or groups of people. To hear the members of your squadron talking among themselves, for example, you have to have your comm unit set to the right frequency. In a military unit, these channels are encrypted so that the enemy cannot listen in, despite being close enough to pick up the signals; this stops anyone without the proper decryption equipment or information from understanding the communications. During a battle, you generally have communications officers on either side listening for any useful and understandable transmissions, so in order to get the enemy to hear something you want them to hear all you have to do is transmit on an open (unencrypted) frequency. It seems to be that someone can either talk on an open frequency and have people listen passively (like you’re shouting at a crowd with a loudspeaker), or have someone talking back on the other side (like you’re shouting at a crowd on a loudspeaker but another person is shouting back at you). (Continuing the metaphor, talking on an encrypted frequency would then be like you’re shouting at a crowd on a loudspeaker and everyone can hear you, but only your friends can actually understand what you’re saying.) So, if Poe had wanted to, he could have made his transmission and allowed the First Order communications officers to pick it up and relay it to Hux without actually talking to him directly. (But that’s no fun.)

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen