In the Star Wars universe was there any ship faster than the Millennium Falcon?
astro February 16, 2003, 6:48pm #1
E-Sabbath February 16, 2003, 6:53pm #2
As far as I can tell, judging from years and years of RPG stats, and semi-official mentions…
No. Nothing beats the x0.5 hyperdrive. Some things come within a hair of it, but, in hyperspace, nothing beats it.
In normal space, it's just fast for a freighter, though. A snubfighter is faster. Barely.
Ferrous February 16, 2003, 6:56pm #3
Well, that depends on if you mean able to acheive higher velocity, or able to cover long distances faster.
If the first, then yes, absolutely. Remember the TIE fighters flying circles around it? They're short range craft, but they're definitely faster.
As for speed over long ranges…I don't think it was adressed in the movies, and I never read any of the books or anything. Probably someone else knows. But the thing is, the Falcon was fast for a freighter. I'd guess there were plenty of military and courier-type ships that were faster.
Guinastasia February 16, 2003, 8:46pm #4
I believ ethe Falcon boasts a military-grade hyperdrive.
So, it's as fast as a lot of military ships. But as a smuggler's ship goes, nothing can beat it. (Except MAYBE Jade's Fire or the Wild Karrde)
Roadwalker February 16, 2003, 10:00pm #5
Not to hijack to much, but is .5 past light speed one-and-one-half times lightspeed?
That seems very slow. It would take years still to reach some stars.
markdiscordia February 16, 2003, 10:14pm #6
Not to hijack to much, but is .5 past light speed one-and-one-half times lightspeed? That seems very slow. It would take years still to reach some stars.
It's "halfway between light speed and the maximum known capacity of a hyperdrive."
I'm pretty sure that there are many ships faster than the Falcon in hyperspace, but I'll have to consult my sources for specific examples.
Yorikke February 16, 2003, 11:00pm #7
No way! It made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs!
RickJay February 17, 2003, 12:12am #8
The "0.5 past light speed" stuff is garbage. Like anything else in Star Wars or Star Trek, it's blather.
In the context of the films, it doesn't appear to really matter how fast a ship can travel IN hyperspace; just getting into hyperspace seems to be a method of escape (cf. Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.) It may be that the Falcon can travel faster in hyperspace than other ships, but in terms of running away from someone it appears not to matter, and we never actually see any evidence it travels in hyperspeed faster than other ships.
The Millennium Falcon is somewhat unique in that its sub-light speed appears to be very fast for a ship of its type. It is obviously much, much faster than most freighters or battleships; it whips around Star Destroyers as if they are standing still. But it may or may not be slower than fighters. In one scene in Star Wars, TIE fighters were faster; in another, the Falcon was faster. In The Empire Strikes Back, they were about the same speed. Obviously this makes it amazingly fast for a freighter; you'd think fighters are very fast, but the Falcon matches them.
E-Sabbath February 17, 2003, 1:31am #9
As far as the gaming is considered, there is a standard speed of a hyperdrive. Call it S. A standard civilian craft of the Rebellion era can hit 2.0xS. A standard military craft of the Rebellion era can hit 1.0xS.
The Falcon can hit 0.5xS. Therefore, it is twice as fast as any observed military craft, and four times faster than a civilian craft.
By gaming, I mean the West End RPG, the TSR RPG, and the various video games all have this explanation. It is retroactive continuity, but it is also a long-running and consistant one. The books may also mention it, but I can not recall a specific cite.
In space, it is merely almost as fast as a 'snubfighter', like an X-Wing or TIE Fighter. I believe it is about as fast as a Y-Wing.
Speed of military craft, in space: B-Wing, Y-Wing, X-Wing, TIE, Tie Interceptor, Tie Advanced, A-Wing, but by a hair's breadth.
Other craft like the TIE Defender, the Scimitar Bomber, and E-Wing, I can't remember offhand.
SPOOFE February 17, 2003, 3:57am #10
The only reason to conclude that the Falcon is the fastest ship in the galaxy is if we're to take Han at his word…
MovieMogul February 17, 2003, 6:24am #11
What I've always wondered is: What is a Falcon in the SW universe? We haven't been exposed to any animals that are similar to ours on Earth, so what are the odds they named a flying animal the exact same name as one of ours? (Shades of Douglas Adams there).
jack_ss February 17, 2003, 7:42am #12
Yeah, but it can't do Ludicrous Speed. Dark helmet could pass him up easily!
Troy_McClure_SF February 17, 2003, 8:19am #13
*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy *
**What I've always wondered is: What is a Falcon in the SW universe? We haven't been exposed to any animals that are similar to ours on Earth, so what are the odds they named a flying animal the exact same name as one of ours? (Shades of Douglas Adams there). **
Anakin was mentioned as the only human who's ever pod-raced. So maybe the SW universe is a cousin universe to our own, some details we share, some wildly different.
Badtz_Maru February 17, 2003, 8:33am #14
And what is the significance of the milennium? The Star Wars universe has been civilized for thousands of years, what do they count from? Was the Falcon built on an anniversary of something important?
msmith537 February 17, 2003, 8:47am #15
*Originally posted by RickJay *
OK…from what I saw in the films:
-It seems like once a ship hits hyperspace, it is impossible to track.
-The Millenium Falcon cannot outrun an Imperial Star Destroyer. In Empire Strikes Back, a Star Destroyer and its wing of Tie Fighters seemed to be able to follow the Falcon easily enough. In fact, the only way Han could escape was to enter an asteroid field which forced the much larger ISD to slow down.
-Tie fighters can overtake the Falcon. But TIE fighters are short range fighters and cant go into hyoerspace.
-It's a movie so any ship can go as fast as necessary to fulfull the needs of the plot.
Gerome February 17, 2003, 10:37am #16
*Originally posted by msmith537 *
Pardon my dumbing down, but from what I gathered during the opening scenes of ESB, wasn't the Falcon basically in a state of disrepair (ie, completely bollocksed) throughout the film? This might slow it down a tad. Of course, this is just speculation.
SPOOFE February 17, 2003, 11:02am #17
The Millenium Falcon is ALWAYS in a state of disrepair. That's how Han likes it.
markdiscordia February 17, 2003, 8:44pm #18
One has to accept that the characters are either "translated" or, by suspension of disbelief, speakin in a language which is exactly the same as English. There are puns and Latinate terms which suggest the latter and proper-name derived phrases ("Doppler effect") which suggest the former. Like many other stories, scifi or otherwise, the conceit of Star Wars is that the author is relating a found chronicle of a long-ago place, with translation implied. Specifically regarding animals–a duck is mentioned in the novelization of A New Hope, and other Earthly beasts such as dogs have come up in recent material.
Guinastasia February 17, 2003, 9:20pm #19
The hyperdrive wasn't working.
The Falcon was won from Lando, by Han, and he's constantly tinkering with it. Like a big computer buff, the Falcon is his baby. He's always dicking around on it.