they don't
this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2026
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Star Wars Memes
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Hello there. Somehow, Star Wars memes have returned. It's not a trap, this is where the fun begins.
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Other universes to visit:
Separatist systems:
Oh hey some real SW content for a change (perhaps):
!starwarstelevision@lemmy.world
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IMPORTANT
Please do not post the "good friend" or similar copypasta
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Our galactic citizens have requested more specific rules, so here are a few.
The general idea is, if you're looking here for rules, you're probably someone who doesn't need to have them spelled out. You're fine. But anyway:
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This is a community for Star Wars memes. This means typically screenshots of Star Wars media with some text or context that's meant to be funny and/or thoughtful. All SW media is welcome: movies, games, comic books, fanart... Other kinds of content, like video links or meta memes (about this community, or Lemmy), are fine as well, just keep it on topic.
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There is no defined "down" in space
The enemy gate is down.
Because there is gravity in space.
"orbit" is just what we call the sweet spot between moving fast enough to not hit the planet or mooon or whatever and not so fast that you escape it's gravity (even though it still affects you. just not enough to make kissy noises as you fall back to it.)
But the ships would still be continuing on their current trajectory even when destroyed. Gravity doesn’t affect them more just because their reactor blew up..
So SD's, etc- the big ships- aren't technically in orbit. they're using repulsors to stay up and float above a specific point. So when they start falling... yeah. They're still going the way they were going before.
Without the acceleration of the engines the gravity well takes over.
Where are the Moon's engines?
So the reason the moon has a curved path is because of the earth’s gravity. Its velocity relative to earth is high enough that as the earth pulls the moon at 9.8 m/s^2^, it misses the earth entirely. This pulls the moon into a circular trajectory, and that’s what we call an orbit.
Big ships in Star Wars are not “in orbit” in this sense. They’re relying on technobabble and dohickeys to stay up in the sky- above a specific part of the planet.
So when those engines stop providing power, they fa ll to the planet.
Also, a lot of battles are taking place as ships come out of hyperspace in relation to the gravity well, so they are accelerating across or into the planet. They aren’t even in “orbit” at all.
Yes they don’t decelerate, but that’s an entire other thing.
I always envision that they’re burning velocity while in hyperspace to come out in a zero-zero rendezvous with whatever they’re meeting so that they come out “just right”
My head cannon is that the hyperdrive is like sliding into a blister on the edge of space and the drive is pushing that blister. Your momentum is preserved, start and stop but you can shift it so you’re always coming out “stopped” or advancing at a useful direction.
(Otherwise we’d see them making long-ass RV burns.)
Not many space battles are taking place in stable orbit dude.
That's no moon
(I see what you did there)
And why are they all upside ? Space battle in star wars don't take full advantage of the verticality
That's a failure of human psychology. I bet that pilots from species with natural flying ability do better. In fact, I would expect Ackbar to be a real fiend in this regard.
I feel like Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica series had the most realistic ideas about how battles would be fought in space and doesn’t get enough recognition for it.
No. That honor goes to The Expanse. After that, all other space shows are unwatchable from a physics reality POV.
Movies and TV shows starting with "Star..." are not known for their hard-science fiction.
Star Wars is just a western, set in spaaaaace.
That's why the good guys wore white and the bad guys wore black.
Uhm, sounds, flames, laser swords, the shape of spaceships