The shortest path (blue) between points A and F in a weighted graph. This is known as the shortest path problem. Or in layman's terms: reducing the total length of road segments between two points when there are options at junctions. So instead of going directly from A to B, a ship would have to travel from A to Z via points B, C and D etc, meaning that ships could take different paths to Kessel.Ĭompleting the route in the shortest distance means solving a mathematical problem where the aim is to minimize the combined length of all edges between two vertices in a graph (from A to F in the illustration below). So how did Han manage to make the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs? As he says in Solo: "Take a shortcut."Īlthough the shortest distance between two points is a straight line (without using a wormhole), the movie states "You can't plot a direct course to Kessel." This applies at a small scale, flying through normal space in places like the Maelstrom, but also to a large jump across the galaxy in hyperspace, as there are many dangerous obstacles to avoid, everything from tiny micrometeoroids to huge star clusters. And unlike the old black-hole cluster, it has a single gravity well - also called 'the Maw'. As seen in the trailer, the Millennium Falcon has to evade an Imperial blockade and is pursued by a Star Destroyer, TIE Fighters and a gigantic tentacle creature. The Maelstrom is a dense cloud of ionized gas, water vapor and planet-sized 'carbon bergs' that crash into one another. The film gets round this potential astronomical mistake by showing that you would need careful manoeuvring along at least one part of the route: the Akkadese Maelstrom. Solo has solved a problem with the Kessel Run: because space is unimaginably big and the Millennium Falcon is insignificant by comparison, the chances of a small ship colliding with celestial objects such as asteroids is low (probably near zero). As crime lord Dryden Vos says, to deliver the coaxium in time, "You'd need an incredibly fast ship and a brilliant pilot." That cargo is kept cool in canisters and must reach a refinery before it gets too warm and explodes. In the film, Han and crew don't smuggle spice, but a raw material for hyperspace fuel called ' coaxium', which is stored in vaults under the mines. The Millennium Falcon jumps to hyperspace in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' LucasfilmĪccording to the new canon revealed in Solo, the Kessel Run is normally 20 parsecs long and the mines are now controlled by an organization of drug dealers, the Pyke Syndicate. The multi-holed Maw from the Legends continuity became obsolete. Only the main movies (episodes I to IX) and TV series like Clone Wars and Rebels survived Disney's purge. One upshot of this strategy is it turns Han Solo into a time traveller.īut after the Star Wars franchise was sold to Disney, almost everything from the Expanded Universe was erased from the official canon and became part of an alternate 'Legends' timeline. That's possible thanks to a trick of Einstein's general theory of relativity, as the enormous mass of black holes cause spacetime to bend so that, between any two points, a ship would follow a curved path. This would typically take 18 parsecs - to avoid falling into the Maw's gravity wells - but with a sturdy ship like the Millennium Falcon and a daring captain like Han, a smuggler could skirt close to the edges of the Maw and cut the distance down to 12 parsecs. Taking certain interstellar roads reduces the risk of being caught red-handed by an Imperial patrol.Īccording to Star Wars: The Essential Atlas and the Solo novels, the road to Kessel involved navigating a cluster of black holes known as 'the Maw'. The Kessel Run is a route used by smugglers to transport an illicit substance called 'spice' from mines on the planet Kessel through a region of space belonging to the Galactic Empire. The Millenium Falcon above the planet Kessel in 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Lucasfilm
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