Sci-Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible
Destroy the Death Star
TV-G
S2 • E7 Oct 5, 2010Dr. Michio Kaku takes on the biggest and deadliest war machine in science fiction — the Death Star. We've all seen Luke Skywalker in action but could a lone star fighter really take out a battle station as a big as a moon? Michio brings physics to bear on the most iconic scene in sci fi. He talks swarm tactics with top gun pilot Colonel Rod Zastrow, who flew an F15 in the Gulf War, and reveals the truth about dogfights in space. Space shuttle pilot Ken Rogers explains how real spaceships maneuver and at Columbia University's centrifuge, Michio comes up with a novel solution to the G-Force problem. In North Carolina, a rail gun that can fire a projectile at twelve times the speed of sound shows how we might one day equip our own star fighters.
