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Hub AI
Millennium Falcon AI simulator
(@Millennium Falcon_simulator)
Hub AI
Millennium Falcon AI simulator
(@Millennium Falcon_simulator)
Millennium Falcon
The Millennium Falcon is a fictional starship in the Star Wars franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the film Star Wars (1977), it has subsequently appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Additionally, the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars spin-off works, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship. It also appears in the 2014 animated film The Lego Movie in Lego form.
The ship, a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, is primarily commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca, and was previously owned by gambler/con-artist Lando Calrissian. Solo: A Star Wars Story depicts the ship as being co-piloted by, and later integrated with, Calrissian's droid L3-37. Described as being one of the fastest vessels in the Star Wars canon, the Falcon looks worn-out but despite its humble origins and shabby exterior, the Millennium Falcon has played a critical role in some of the greatest victories of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic.
The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this design's similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space: 1999 prompted George Lucas to change the Falcon's design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, Tantive IV. Modelmaker Joe Johnston had about four weeks to redesign the Falcon, and Lucas' only suggestion to Johnston was to "think of a flying saucer". Johnston did not want to produce a "basic flying saucer", so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, and rear slot for the engines. It was also said that the shape of the ship was roughly based on a hamburger with an olive-on-the-side cockpit. The design was simple enough to create in the four-week window. Johnston called production of the new Falcon design one of his most intense projects.
The sound of the ship traveling through hyperspace comes from two tracks of the engine noise of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, with one track slightly out of synchronization with the other to introduce a phasing effect. To this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
It has been noted that the cockpit with its greenhouse-style window was likely inspired by the cockpit of the American B-29 Superfortress.
Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by several models and external and internal sets. For Star Wars, a partial exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Mos Eisley's Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line. The interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a separate set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the internal set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable.
The effects models for Star Wars matched the design of the exterior set. The primary model was five feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented by a matte painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time, showing the full upper surface. For the 1997 "Special Edition", a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, and is used in a new shot of the Falcon lifting off from Docking Bay 94.
For The Empire Strikes Back (1980), a new external set was constructed. In spring 1979, Marcon Fabrications, a heavy engineering firm that served the UK's petrochemical and oil industries, was hired to build a movable full-scale external model capable of "moving as if it were about to take off." Built in secrecy under the project code name Magic Roundabout, the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock, West Wales. The model, which took three months to construct, weighed over 25 long tons (25 t), measured 65 feet (20 m) in diameter and 20 feet (6.1 m) high, and used compressed air hover pads for up to 1.5 inches (38 mm) of hover-height movement around the set. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, for filming. Today, the Pembroke Dock museum has an exhibit about the project.
Millennium Falcon
The Millennium Falcon is a fictional starship in the Star Wars franchise. Designed by Joe Johnston for the film Star Wars (1977), it has subsequently appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983), Revenge of the Sith (2005), The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). Additionally, the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars spin-off works, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship. It also appears in the 2014 animated film The Lego Movie in Lego form.
The ship, a YT-1300 Corellian light freighter, is primarily commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca, and was previously owned by gambler/con-artist Lando Calrissian. Solo: A Star Wars Story depicts the ship as being co-piloted by, and later integrated with, Calrissian's droid L3-37. Described as being one of the fastest vessels in the Star Wars canon, the Falcon looks worn-out but despite its humble origins and shabby exterior, the Millennium Falcon has played a critical role in some of the greatest victories of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic.
The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this design's similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space: 1999 prompted George Lucas to change the Falcon's design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, Tantive IV. Modelmaker Joe Johnston had about four weeks to redesign the Falcon, and Lucas' only suggestion to Johnston was to "think of a flying saucer". Johnston did not want to produce a "basic flying saucer", so he created the offset cockpit, forward cargo mandibles, and rear slot for the engines. It was also said that the shape of the ship was roughly based on a hamburger with an olive-on-the-side cockpit. The design was simple enough to create in the four-week window. Johnston called production of the new Falcon design one of his most intense projects.
The sound of the ship traveling through hyperspace comes from two tracks of the engine noise of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, with one track slightly out of synchronization with the other to introduce a phasing effect. To this, sound designer Ben Burtt added the hum of the cooling fans on the motion-control rig at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
It has been noted that the cockpit with its greenhouse-style window was likely inspired by the cockpit of the American B-29 Superfortress.
Visually, the Millennium Falcon was represented by several models and external and internal sets. For Star Wars, a partial exterior set was constructed and the set dressed as Mos Eisley's Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar. Besides the functional landing gear, an additional support held up the structure and was disguised as a fuel line. The interior set included the starboard ring corridor, the boarding ramp, cockpit access tunnel, gun turret ladder, secret compartments, and the forward hold. The cockpit was constructed as a separate set that could be rocked when the ship was supposed to shake. Several inconsistencies exist between the internal set and the external set, the cockpit access tunnel angle being the most noticeable.
The effects models for Star Wars matched the design of the exterior set. The primary model was five feet long and detailed with various kit parts. The ship was represented by a matte painting when Princess Leia sees it for the first time, showing the full upper surface. For the 1997 "Special Edition", a digital model replaces the effects model in several shots, and is used in a new shot of the Falcon lifting off from Docking Bay 94.
For The Empire Strikes Back (1980), a new external set was constructed. In spring 1979, Marcon Fabrications, a heavy engineering firm that served the UK's petrochemical and oil industries, was hired to build a movable full-scale external model capable of "moving as if it were about to take off." Built in secrecy under the project code name Magic Roundabout, the company leased the 1930s Western Sunderland Flying Boat hangar in Pembroke Dock, West Wales. The model, which took three months to construct, weighed over 25 long tons (25 t), measured 65 feet (20 m) in diameter and 20 feet (6.1 m) high, and used compressed air hover pads for up to 1.5 inches (38 mm) of hover-height movement around the set. It was then disassembled and shipped to Elstree Studios, Hertfordshire, for filming. Today, the Pembroke Dock museum has an exhibit about the project.
