I don’t usually investigate the Physics and Astronomy behind Star Wars as I find it can take the magic and imagination out of it. However the well-known route of the “Kessel Run” completed in a record time of 12 Parsecs by Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon has brought up much discussion and doubt. And seeing as I take GCSE Astronomy and Physics, I thought it be silly not to have a go. So in this mini article, I attempt to decipher the Kessel Run.
First off, Parsecs are a measure of distance in Space, NOT a time scale as many believe.
- 1 Parsec = 3.2 Light-years
- 1 Light-year =9,460,730,472,580,800 Meters
Let’s convert this into a more understandable distance – Miles
- 9,460,730,472,580,800/1,609.344 Metres (1 Mile) = 5,878,625,373,184 Miles
So 1 Parsec = 5,878,625,373,184 Miles. Han Solo said he completed the Kessel Run in 12 Parsecs.
- 12 x 5,878,625,373,184 = 70,543,504,478,208 Miles
So Han Solo makes the Kessel Run in 70,543,504,478,208 Miles. This is an incredibly long distance which can only be achieved in a human’s life time if attempted at a very very very fast speed. The fastest possible speed in Star Wars is Light speed (Hyperspace is still a distance thingy).
Han Solo stated “She’ll do .5 at light speed kid” (.5 x 670,616,629mph). So he’s saying the Millennium Falcon can do up to 335308314.5 mph.
Now to get the time, we must divide 70,543,504,478,208mph by 335308314.5mph = 210384 Hours. Let’s put this into perspective:
- There are 8765.81 Hours in a Year
So 210384 divided by 8765.81 will give us how many YEARS he completed it in.
210384/8765.81 = 24 years, that seems a little excessive for me, even if it was for an excessive amount of Credits.
So that means one of two things; Han Solo did it in Hyperspace (I think that counts as cheating) or he was…lying!