The Star Wars saga has been described as one of the greatest stories ever told, and in just a few days, that story will continue, with the seventh instalment of the Sci-fi franchise; Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.

And as the world prepares for the movie’s premiere, you can bet thousands of fanatics (I write this whilst wearing a Darth Vader sweatshirt) worldwide will be binge-watching the first six films in order to have all the facts fresh in their minds.

However, have you ever actually wondered just how long it would take to build our own Death Star? Or if we’d ever be able to make a real lightsaber? I know I have! Well, ponder no more, because here’s the scientific truth behind Star Wars:

The Death Star:

The iconic planet-destroying space station, which, in Episode IV, was used to destroy Princess Leia’s home planet of Alderaan, is one of the most fascinating subjects of the original trilogy.

However, experts at Lehigh University have calculated that if planet Earth wanted our own Death Star (87 miles in diameter), it would take more than 833,315 years to build, based on the current production levels of steel.

And the cost would absolutely cripple us, as the estimated cost to build one Death Star is $852 quintillion ($852,000,000,000,000,000). That’s 13-times the world’s entire GDP. Although, seeing as the Galactic Empire had an economy which produced an Average Gross Galactic Product (GGP) of around $4.6 sextillion (based on their 20-year reign).

Now, let’s talk about the Death Star’s laser. Lasers are generated by a light amplification by stimulated emissions of radiations (hence, LASER). The most powerful laser on Earth is a two petawatt laser in Japan. If we assume Alderaan was just half the size of Earth, it will still need to be a million billion times more powerful to destroy it.

That would result in a laser so powerful it would actually melt the Death Star before it even managed to destroy Leia’s home planet.

Oh, and whilst we’re on the laser, you know how the eight beams of light all combine together before the final laser being fired? Yeah, wouldn’t happen. Star Wars fan and chemist at Doane College in Nebraska, Dr Raychelle Burks explains; “The individual beams would just pass through each other and keep going in their own directions”.

Lightsabers:

Probably the coolest weapon ever invented in a fictional world. I have wanted a lightsaber since I was seven-years-old, and in my life, have owned around 4 or 5 replicas. But never a real one!

Lightsaber blades are made of plasma – a fourth state of matter, created by heating up gas. According to Star Wars law, the “sword” shape of the laser blade is created by electro-magnetic forces controlled the charged ions and electrons that makes up plasma. However, Dr. Burks also believes the saber would have an issue with heat.

Astrophysicist and science communicator, Neil deGrasse Tyson believes gamma rays would be a more suitable replacement, and physicists at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently discovered they could stick photons together – raising the prospect that it may be possible to create real ‘laser swords’.

Forcefields/Deflector Shields:

The forcefields that surround the rebel base and ships found in the franchise may cinematically allow for the space battles to continue – but the science behind how they work is never really explained.

One theory about how they could possibly work is a “bubble” of plasma that would surround a ship or station. However, this would require a physical structure to keep the plasma cloud in place, such as a wire mesh.

Defence contractor, Boeing, have also patented an idea of an active laser forcefield, that produces plasma to protect against shockwaves from explosions – which can do just as much damage as propelled objects… or blaster beams.

Parsecs:

In Episode VI, Han Solo informs Luke Skywalker that his ship, the Millennium Falcon, once made the Kessle Run (a smuggler’s route) in less than 12 parsecs…

However, as Chewie should have explained to Han, a parsec is actually a distance of length (around 19 trillion miles)- not time.

Ship Explosions:

The movies often depict ships and fighters “falling” after being hit by an enemy beam. Although, a group of astronomy students at the University of Berkeley recently pointed out that without gravity, the ship would actually just continue to travel in the direction of the impact, instead of just dropping like a swatted fly.

Two-Suns?:

NASA’s Kepler mission recently discovered a “circumbinary planet” – that is, a planet orbiting two stars – 200 million light-years from Earth. So, if we ever land there, we will know exactly what Luke saw when he watched the infamous double-sunset in Episode IV on his home planet of Tatooine.

Tie Fighters:

Every fan knows how the film’s Tie Fighters travel through space using their twin-ion engines, but did you know NASA currently uses this method of propulsion on their spacecrafts, such as their Dawn probe? However, the level of thrust produced is much lower than that achieved by Lord Vader’s spacecrafts.

It’s important to remember that Star Wars is, of course, fiction. However, it also took place ‘A Long Time Ago” in the past – so surely we can’t be too far away from making lightsabers a reality?