Wired physics writer Rhett Allain goes about estimating the crew compliment of the Death Star from “Star Wars”… needless to say figuring out how many people could be aboard a vessel the size of a small moon isn’t that simple, so Allain started out by analysing the size of far smaller naval craft:

I went through the list of US Navel Wessels and tried to get one of each class. In order to calculate the volume, I had to make a couple of guesses. First, I had to guess the height of the ship. Wikipedia seems to list the draft (which would be the depth of the ship below water level – I think). So, I just kind of guessed at the height. Really, in my mind I pictured the ship as a rectangle. So, the height listed is my approximation of how tall the ship would be if it were squashed into a rectangular cube.

I realise there’s another point being made here, but this still makes for a fine, stand-alone, “Star Wars” conspiracy theory.

Essentially, did Darth Vader engineer the destruction of the otherwise virtually unassailable Death Star in A New Hope? The ambitions he voiced in The Empire Strikes Back really leaves little doubt if you ask me.

I doubt we’ll ever stop analysing events of the Star Wars film saga, and now I read that Han Solo’s recording breaking Kessel Run trip, in the Millennium Falcon, makes him a time traveller:

Because the shortened Kessel Run spans 12 parsecs (39.6 light-years), a ship traveling nearly light-speed would take a little more than 39.6 years to get there. Factoring in time dilation, anyone watching the Kessel Run would see Solo speeding along for almost 40 years, but Solo himself would experience only a little more than half a day. If you haven’t picked out the potential pitfall for the Star Wars timeline I’ll spell it out: In the time it takes Han to complete just one Kessel Run, the rest of the galaxy battles, negotiates, and force-chokes its way through almost 40 years – and pushes the date of Solo’s birth 40 years further into the past.

It has to be remembered though that Solo made a number of unspecified special modifications to the Millennium Falcon, I’d say one of these somehow restores order to the space/time continuum, making all of his jaunts, Kessel Run or not, happen in real time.

Speaking of time travel, and doing the Kessel Run in record time, here’s the storyline of Back to the Future condensed into one minute.

Last week I alluded to the possibility of a Star Trek/Star Wars crossover given J.J. Abrams will be directing the next film in the “Star Wars” franchise. Well, what more can I say then?

Here I was thinking the twain would never meet, but now I read that Star Trek director J.J. Abrams will be directing the new “Star Wars” movie.

Lucasfilm Chief Kathleen Kennedy has been courting Abrams, one of the most successful directors and producers in Hollywood – and a man beloved by fanboys. He runs one of the industry’s top production companies, Bad Robot, and created or co-created television franchises like “Lost,” “Fringe” and “Alias.” He has also directed film spectacles “Mission: Impossible III,” “Star Trek” and “Super 8.”

Could this be the opportunity for a Star Trek/Star Wars cross-over? Given the turmoil gripping the “Star Wars” galaxy following the demise of the Empire, a Captain Kirk sort of figure could be just what its citizens need…

The US has decided not to consider constructing a Death Star, a move that, needless to say, pleases the Galactic emperor, Palpatine, according to Grand Moff Tarkin:

The overwhelming military superiority of the Galactic Empire has been confirmed once again by the recent announcement by the President of the United States that his nation would not attempt to build a Death Star, despite the bellicose demands of the people of his tiny, aggressive planet. “It is doubtless that such a technological terror in the hands of so primitive a world would be used to upset the peace and sanctity of the citizens of the Galactic Empire,” said Governor Wilhuff Tarkin of the Outer Rim Territories. “Such destructive power can only be wielded to protect and defend by so enlightened a leader as Emperor Palpatine.”

Philadelphia artist and illustrator Andrew DeGraff, through a series of maps, literally outlines the plots of the three movies in the “Star Wars” Original Trilogy.

George Lucas has sold his “Star Wars” film franchise to The Walt Disney Company for around four billion dollars. The good news for fans of the popular sci-fi saga? A new batch of films are on the way, with the first set to arrive as early as 2015.

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime.

I always had the feeling, despite the protestations of Lucas to the contrary, that there would be more films in the “Star Wars” saga. So, will they be sequel films – set in a period following the original trilogy films – or will they explore other aspects of the (sprawling) extended universe?

A number of hard-core, to say nothing of ambitious, “Star Wars” fans have banded together to build a 1:1 scale model of the Millennium Falcon that will resemble Han Solo’s freighter in almost every regard. It’ll be interesting to see if the duplicate craft can also make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

And what’s next after the Millennium Falcon? A fully sized – and operational – model of the Death Star perhaps?

Star Wars Uncut is back and the crowd sourced re-make of The Empire Strikes Back is well under way. Long story short, filmmakers choose a fifteen second scene from the original movie and can recreate it in anyway they wish to. I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.