B5's end.

[James McMurray]

My take: the destruction of Babylon 5 doesn't make sense from a logical standpoint. there are several reasons given, but they don't quite cut it. However, from a dramatoc voewpoint it makes perfect sense. It's all about movign on. The galaxy has come to grips with things and grown up, matured. The removal of the space station from the picture makes physical the intangible change of priorities that has happened in the grander scheme of things.

 

[frobisher]

I get all that, but are you telling me that non of the other governments could have found a use for this station?

They probably would, but it was probably in the EA's best interests to not had the Epsilon System over to another race and have it remain nominally neutral. It's okay for a "neutral" system to be in EA hands, but nobody else's

Remember - It wasn't just the EA that paid for it, many of the other races helped with the cost as well!

It was the EA and Minbari that mostly paid for it, with token donations from the othert governments.

Also, wouldn't it make sense for the IA to take over if the EA couldn't afford it?

Erm, the ISA handed it back to the EA (which is quite clearly stated in "Sleeping in Light") when they had no further use for it...

 

[James McMurray]

They probably would, but it was probably in the EA's best interests to not had the Epsilon System over to another race and have it remain nominally neutral. It's okay for a "neutral" system to be in EA hands, but nobody else's

Sounds to me like a very good reason to not dismantle your orbitting, heavily armed, legendary space station. It's easier to protect an asset when you have something to protect it with.

 

[lastbesthope]

B5 was very close to the planet. If you're in visual range of the planet, you're in visual range of the station.

IIRC, the station was in orbit about a LaGrange point of Epsilon 3 and the system star. I could be wrong on that one.

As for being in visual range if you can see the planet, you mihgt not be invisual range of the station. Could be blocked LOS by the planet, yoou could be between the two..... etc.

LBH

 

[James McMurray]

You got me, you might have to actually fly a little bit to be in visual range of B5 from near the planet if the planet happens to be blocking your line of sight. :roll: The point is though, that the location isn't exactly a hard thing to find if you want.

 

[lastbesthope]

But with noone on the station the orbit might decay and it would rapidly become difficult to know where the station was.

LBH

 

[James McMurray]

Oh no! You might have to fly all the way around the planet and open your eyes (and/or scanners).

Are you trying to say it can't be found, or are we saying the same basic thing but with a difference in ease of findability?

 

[Shadow Queen]

Oh no! You might have to fly all the way around the planet and open your eyes (and/or scanners).

Are you trying to say it can't be found, or are we saying the same basic thing but with a difference in ease of findability?

What happens in a worst case your ship has no navagation and you spinning towards the station????

 

[nitflegal]

I wonder if people might not be putting a little too much stock in B5's value. When the EA can build 200+ Omegas that appear to be a fifth the length of the station itself, the actual material value is probably pretty small. Throw in that it is decades old and appears poorly maintained (and had a hard life, God knows what the structural condition would be) who would want it?

So, you've got a station that would be a bear to move and probably not worth the money to tow somewhere to scrap. Why would anyone want to purchase or take a broken down old space station that is far enough from current hyperspace routes that almost no traffic goes through? Not worth towing, not useful enough to keep, and potentially dangerous if pirates decide to inhabit it. Blowing it up makes sense, perhaps with the navigational explanation thrown in to placate the people who want it preserved as a museum or some such.

Matt

 

[James McMurray]

What happens in a worst case your ship has no navagation and you spinning towards the station????

Then you curse the gods who, in the midst of a vast universe, sent your tiny ship hurtling on a perfect collision course with a tiny station, and you try to fix your nav system.

I wonder if people might not be putting a little too much stock in B5's value.

It has much greater value as a symbol and a museum than as scrap metal.

 

[frobisher]

I wonder if people might not be putting a little too much stock in B5's value.

It has much greater value as a symbol and a museum than as scrap metal.

But not to the EA

 

[James McMurray]

If it has a lot of value to someone, then it's worth selling. Basically, there are any number of reasons for it to not have been destroyed and only one reason for it to go away. And, since drama trumps realism, it was destroyed. As it should have been.

It also staved off thousands of "when is the sequel coming" letters.

 

[Epaminondas]

The US scrapped the Enterprise at the end of World War II, and sold the metal to the Japanese.

the Big E was one of the most successful carriers of the war, and survived many attacks that should have sunk her.

But we still scrapped her.

Refined metals, even with astroids to mine, are valuable. Keeping a potential pirate base, or the ships on station to prevent piracy would be a waste of resources... even more so for an EA that was expansionistic.

Better to scrap.

the Omegas were built up over a number of years. If you assume 400 omegas in service at the time of B5, that is only 40 per year. B5 required outside funding... converting the station into hulls for new warships would save a ton of money.

 

[James McMurray]

The Enterprise isn't exactly the same situation, unless I'm wrong and all of humanity was saved, a new interstellar government was formed, and The Old Ones were cast out of the galaxy from within its walls or because of things that started within them.

 

[mpm5]

The US scrapped the Enterprise at the end of World War II, and sold the metal to the Japanese.

the Big E was one of the most successful carriers of the war, and survived many attacks that should have sunk her.

But we still scrapped her.

Refined metals, even with astroids to mine, are valuable. Keeping a potential pirate base, or the ships on station to prevent piracy would be a waste of resources... even more so for an EA that was expansionistic.

Better to scrap.

the Omegas were built up over a number of years. If you assume 400 omegas in service at the time of B5, that is only 40 per year. B5 required outside funding... converting the station into hulls for new warships would save a ton of money.

Who says that they didn't use the scrap to make new hulls? What would you do if you were on a tight budget, spend an absolute fortune on dissmantalling the B5 station which would take months to complete (never mind transporting it then back to the various shipyards) at the cost of 10s of thousands of man hours, or blow it up and send in the contracted salvage crafts for a couple of weeks?

 

[Greg Smith]

The B5 station could be considered something of an embarrasment to EarthGov. 'This is the place where one of our military officers started an armed insurrection against our government.'

 

[Shadow Queen]

The B5 station could be considered something of an embarrasment to EarthGov. 'This is the place where one of our military officers started an armed insurrection against our government.'

After an illeagal order was issued

 

[Mongoose Gar]

But as we see in The Deconstruction of Falling Stars, people who share Clark's beliefs do get back into power. Even within Delenn's lifetime, people are openly questioning the veracity of Sheridan's accomplishments. Removing B5 would be to their advantage.

 

[Shadow Queen]

but only cowards target Civilians and non comattants

 

[Grentew]

Not sure if it was the pilot or a early episode 1, but when that Minbari had his Chameleon cloak blow up <or was a bomb> the blast cause the station to go outa alignment and risked being torn apart.