blaster - AL.com

in the Rocket City
Cybernetic
arms and legs
The technology used to put Anakin Skywalker back
together — into the form of the fearsome Darth Vader
— isn’t farfetched at all. Manmade arms and legs have
been used for years, says Jeanne Cavelos, author of
“The Science of Star Wars.”
“Prosthetic limbs can even be outfitted with
temperature or pressure sensors,” she writes, “so that
the temperature of a hot cup of coffee in a user’s
hand or the pressure of the hand against the cup can
be detected.” This will be even more important in
the development of artificial legs with sensors in the
heels and toes that would allow a user to walk, run or,
perhaps, fight with lightsabers.
“Scientists have even figured out how to make artificial
limbs that can change skin tone to keep up with a
user’s tan,” Cavelos writes. This suggests that Vader
might enjoy a vacation one day relaxing beneath the
twin suns of his home planet of Tatooine. Or, at least,
he might try the Death Star tanning salon.
inside the science of episode
I
II
III IV V
VI
BLASTERS
“Ancient weapons
are no match for
a good blaster at
your side.”
“There’s a certain amount of
inspiration that goes into future
concepts when we see these
movies.”
— Han Solo in
Episode IV
— Dave DeYoung, director of Energy
Programs for Boeing’s Directed Energy
Systems group in Albuquerque, N.M.
Bullets of light?
Standard blasters as used by soldiers and fighter ships in “Star Wars”
appear — emphasis on the “appear” part — to be made of light, like a
laser beam.
“What you’re doing at the atomic level is you’re generating photons,”
says Gerald Wilson, lead for Directed Energy programs in the U.S.
Army Cruise Missile Defense Systems Project Office, Redstone
Arsenal. “So you’re collimating those photons and projecting them in a
collimated fashion to whatever desired target.”
Folding threeposition stock
Radiator
fins
Heat
vents
A standard
power cell
will provide a
stormtrooper
with 100 blasts.
This could be
important:
As far as we
can tell in
the movies,
stormtroopers
don’t often hit
their targets.
Safety
Darth’s parts
Among the additions to Vader
following his disastrous duel with
Obi-Wan in Episode III:
Vision enhancement
Respirator, artificial voice
Collimate:
To make parallel;
to line up
Two artificial arms
Evidently, the body work
has affected neither Vader’s
dexterity nor his command
of the mysterious “Force.”
Two artificial legs
Collimated light
Rangefinding
sight
Three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, the
noble Jedi Knights have been leading a massive
clone army into a galaxy-wide battle against the
Separatists. When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic
crumbles and from its ashes rises the evil Galactic
Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker is seduced by
the dark side of the Force to become the Emperor’s
new apprentice — Darth Vader. The Jedi are decimated, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Yoda
are forced into hiding. The only hope for the galaxy
are Anakin’s own offspring — the twin children born
in secrecy.
Directed by: George Lucas
First weekend gross: $108.4 million
Total domestic gross: $380.3 million
This increases accuracy, among other things. “It’s like standing on the
top of the Empire State Building and being able to hit a basketball out
in Colorado Springs,” Wilson says.
Total worldwide gross: $849.0 million
Academy Awards: Nominated in one category:
Makeup. Did not win.
“There have been various targets, real targets, that have been actually
shot out of the air with lasers,” Wilson says. “In terms of relative size,
equivalent to artillery pieces or guns, we’re there.”
Blasting ships
Some of the most spectacular
blaster use is in the giant space
battle that opens Episode III.
“These large ships have so much
extra power that they can continue
to be able to lase as long as you
want,” says DeYoung. “How big your
energy supply is is how long you can
hold your finger on the trigger.”
Graphics, research by Charles Apple/Special to The Times
Interviews, research by Kenneth Kesner/The Huntsville Times
The key for using laser-type blasters
in these ships will be energy,
DeYoung says. Generating it and
storing it is the problem. But folks
are working on this.
Sources: “The Science of Star Wars” by Jeanne Cavelos; “Star Wars: Where
Science Meets Imagination” by National Geographic and the Boston
Museum of Science; “Star Wars: The Complete Visual Dictionary” by David
West Reynolds and James Luceno; AbsoluteAstronomy.com; StarWars.
com; Internet Movie Data Base; www.the-numbers.com; Lucasfilm Ltd.
“The idea of having lasers on aircraft
with nearly unlimited ‘magazines’ is
definitely within (10 to 20 years) of
time frame,” says DeYoung.
Images: Courtesy of Lucasfilm
Revenge of the Sith
Released: May 19, 2005
Normal light
Armor
Control panel
EPISODE III:
Adhesive
grip
Gas
cartridge
cap
Standard
blaster
This is a typical blaster
as used by Imperial
Stormtroopers in Episodes
IV through VI. This particular
one was liberated in the cloud
city of Bespin and wielded by
Princess Leia Organa.
The good: The opening space dogfight and the
subsequent crash landing onto Coruscant.
The bad and the ugly: The climactic scene as
Anakin becomes Vader — “Nooooo!” — always
makes us laugh. And not in a good way.
“A bad feeling about this”: Obi-Wan to Anakin as
the elevator doors close near the start of the movie.
Limbs chopped off: a) Anakin cuts off both of
Count Dooku’s hands (and then, at the urging of
Palpatine, Dooku’s head). b) Obi-Wan cuts off two
of Grevious’ six cybernetic hands during a lightsaber fight. c) Jedi master Mace Windu loses his hand
during a lightsaber battle in Palpatine’s office.
Great quote:
“Remember back to your
early teachings. ‘All who
gain power are afraid to
lose it.’ Even the Jedi.”
- Chancellor Palpatine