StackExchange Friday: Why does the Death Star have a trash compactor?

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Excerpts from: Why does the Death Star have a trash compactor?

The Question:

During one of the most iconic scenes of A New Hope, the protagonists end up in a trash compactor.

Why does the Death Star have one? Why not just blow uncompacted trash into space? And why a mechanical one, when they could also use a directed energy beam to vaporise trash?

Excerpts

Although thoroughly Evil™, the Galactic Empire was remarkably progressive when it came to urban recycling and waste reclamation programs—including on their space stations.

Blast a whole planet? No problem. Blast a few tons of trash? That could be a problem.

"While the Death Star has plenty of energy, the designers wouldn't want to waste it frying a piece of garbage." You saw how Palpatine met his end, right?

And the answer, in summary, is gravity...

Simply shoving something out an airlock will result in in falling back towards the death star somewhere else. If you spew vaporized trash out a nozzle, you have to eject it quite fast to prevent the slower particles from falling back on the death star. And nobody wants a death star covered in a thin layer of waste. Ew.

By compacting trash, you can launch it out of the gravity well with far less hassle and mess. And simply getting it to the surface of the death star will be a pain; compacted trash will be easier move around than loose piles.


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