EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Where the hell are we, anyway?

A common misconception is that the ice world where the Rebels are hiding is named Hoth. Hoth is actually this SOLAR SYSTEM'S name. The Imperials later identify this as the "sixth planet of the HOTH SYSTEM". The opening scroll calls it "the remote ice world of Hoth", as in an icy planet in the Hoth solar system. Often in the Star Wars Universe the term 'system' is used for planetary (rather than star) systems. We're specifically told however that this is a planet in the solar system of Hoth.

This seems like mere semantics until later, when first the asteroid field and then the Bespin 'system' are visited WITHOUT THE USE OF HYPERDRIVE. This would mean they are clearly in the same solar system as the ice world. For more about the astronomical naming conventions used in these films, see appendix ii.

Much of the technology in the Star Wars universe is incredibly resilient and reliable. Artificial gravity for instance. The AG systems never fail once in all the movies. Force fields as well are pretty stable. In Phantom Menace the power systems of a submersible craft completely fail and shut down, yet the force field windows remain intact.

Noteable as one of the few robots we see the Imperials using, probe droids are another robust technology apparently. We see them launched, and watch one as it slams like a meteor into the frozen landscape of the Rebels icy hideaway. Within moments it's hovering up out the crater it made (another example of anti-gravity tech's durability) and heads out over the snow, presumably collecting and sending data. NASA needs to look into this hardware and stop dinking around with rovers.

A good spy droid, it later self-destructs when the gig is up.