The Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy- Aboard the Millennium Falcon

In the world of science fiction and non-fiction there is no space ship that is more famous than the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek series (read my post- To Boldly Go!: A guided tour of the U.S.S. Enterprise). She is hard to beat. She has a long history of adventure and exploration with a crew to match that is equally interesting and charming. I think it is fair to say that Captain Kirk and Captain Picard are probably two of the most famous captains to have ever existed in the world of fiction. The USS Enterprise began as US Naval vessel then an aircraft carrier, space shuttle and eventually the galaxy spanning spaceship that we all know and love. The ship has changed and been upgraded but the name has never changed. That is where things differ between the USS Enterprise and probably the second most famous spaceship to have taken flight in the cosmos. The Millennium Falcon from Star Wars captained by Han Solo and his first mate the wookie, Chewbacca. For the Millennium Falcon the name has changed a few times over its existence and the ship itself, well she has pretty much been the same only with heavy and I stress heavy modifications over her illustrious and more often notorious life span. She is without a doubt the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy and Captain Solo wouldn’t have her any other way. 

The Millennium Falcon or known by its official designation, YT-1300 Corellian Freighter YT492727ZED is an old cargo spaceship that was quite popular with transport pilots and criminals who dealt in smuggling contraband (Captain Han Solo being the most famous of those criminals). The ships popularity grew from the fact that the YT-1300 had many different configuration options to allow for more cargo space, larger engines, different cockpit sightlines, and various other attachments and parts. Regardless of what you needed to ship a YT-1300 had you covered plus it boasted at the time a top of the line hyper drive to allow light speed travel among the many hyperspace lanes in the galaxy. It also had at the time a top level droid computer brain and quality laser cannons for basic space defense. 

By the time the YT-1300 reached the hands of Han Solo she already had a long and adventurous life dating back to the days of the clone wars. Her first most famous owner was the charming gambler and well-known socialite Lando Calrissian. At that point the YT-1300 YT492727ZED was already named the Millennium Falcon and holonet galaxy records have been unable to confirm just when exactly she took her famous name. Lando won her in card game and lost her in the same way to Han Solo. Interestingly enough, although Calrissian was a capable pilot when he obtained the falcon he asked Han Solo, an already well known pilot in his own right from his brief military history as a TIE fighter pilot to teach the ins and outs of flying her. When Solo saw the chance to win her in a card game he took complete advantage and the rest was history. 

Han Solo and Chewbacca began a lucrative partnership piloting across the galaxy smuggling goods of all kinds and evading imperial authorities whenever possible. Most of the work they did was for the powerful gangster Jabba the Hutt who wasted no time putting a bounty on Solo’s head when he intentionally dropped a cargo load to avoid arrest from the empire during an inspection. Despite all the money that Solo and Chewbacca would make most of it was spent rather quickly and a large chunk of it was spent on the falcon which required near constant maintenance. Despite it all the falcon proved her worth numerous times. She twice played a pivotal role in the destruction in not one but two Death Stars! She deftly and skillfully avoided capture by an entire imperial armada and countless times bailed out Captain Solo, Chewbacca, their cargo and/or passengers from all sorts perils including enormous space worms which Solo might have accidently flown into.

Under Solo’s ownership I found all of his modifications to the ship to be quite interesting. He and Chewbacca outfitted the falcon with just about every illegal add-on that credits could buy. What was once a basic transport ship had turned into a unique military grade spaceship with powerful engines and hyper drive, Illegal sensors and deflectors shields and powerful imperial grade laser cannons. There wasn’t a thing about her that followed the rule of law yet despite all of the upgrades Solo wisely left the exterior of the ship to look beaten, tattered, and worn. Just about everyone who saw her assumed she was an old hunk of junk and that is just the way Solo and Chewbacca liked it. She didn’t attract attention but by the time you were done duelling with her in a chase or battle you would not soon forget the formidable reputation of the Millennium Falcon.  Truly, the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.