Okay, so the “noise in space” thing could trivially be explained as a situational-awareness function provided by a ship’s interface. The fact that constant thrust produces constant velocity, and space fighters maneuver like airplanes, could maybe be chalked up to artistic license.
But here’s the really interesting thing: In ESB, when Han hides the Falcon in an “asteroid cave” and they get out to scrape mynocks off the hull, Han, Leia, and Chewie don’t equip anything more elaborate than breath masks.
Conclusion: in Star Wars, there is air in space. Call it aether if you like. It maybe not be breathable by humans, but the pressure is high enough that decompression injuries aren’t any sort of concern. You could argue that the conditions in that scene are related to the “cave” actually being a space slug’s esophagus, but no one seemed to think it was at all odd to find pressure in an asteroid cave, strongly implying that that’s the normal situation.
So this handily explains all the issues related to sound and flight in space. Of course, it also raises a host of new questions. How do celestial mechanics work? How can orbits persist without friction braking causing everything to collapse into the center? My tentative theory is that sufficiently high-mass objects produce some sort of field effect that nullifies aetheric friction, perhaps causing it to flow out and around the planet without directly interacting with its own atmosphere. Perhaps deflector shields function by artificially replicating this boundary. I think hyperdrive might be a similar phenomenon; unlike traditional sci-fi FTL, what we see on-screen suggests that ships aren’t flipping into an alternate set of dimensions but simply moving very very fast in normal space for a few seconds before stopping on a dime. An effect that briefly reduces both friction and effective mass could account for that.
I’ve also got some notions about how starfighters maneuver and about the general technology base of the Star Wars galaxy, but this post is too long already, so…maybe later.
The sound in space occurs at the instant of the events viewed, suggesting that either its speed matches light (over the distances involved there would be a large mismatch otherwise), or is added in post-production to satisfy the unrealistic expectations of the public.
As of the breathing masks, consider an alternative explanation. To live in space, humans could have been genetically enhancing themselves to be able to temporarily withstand the vacuum of space.
This solves the problem with orbital braking, and the gravitational pull of the needed mass of the gas (which would itself render the whole universe unstable and gravitation-collapsing).
True enough, but none of that explains starfighters generally behaving like WW2 prop planes.
Anyway, the most important thing about my theory is that it’s more fun. Most sci-fi either looks for creative loopholes in the known laws of physics, or else ignores them; there’s not nearly enough out there that deliberately experiments with radically different physical laws. (Do check out Greg Egan’s Orthogonal trilogy for an exploration of a universe where the time dimension is simply a fourth space dimension orthogonal to the usual three, and the speed of light is not fixed but depends on its wavelength, so violet light moves faster than red; but be prepared to feel stupid.)
A sophisticated control system that makes the thing fly like an atmospheric fighter in space (as it is more difficult to make it fly like a vacuum-grade fighter in an atmosphere) in order to make it easier for the pilots, and to streamline pilot training by allowing for less of expensive and time-consuming exoatmospheric practices?
I like all the approaches. (For sake of personal feelings I prefer sticking to existing laws of physics as close as possible, but that’s me and my tendency to work within their framework. As an engineer I don’t have another choice anyway…)
…computer simulations of such alternative-laws-of-physics universes could be pretty interesting. There are some physics engines out there, for e.g. games… could they be altered to allow tampering with laws of physics? That could spawn a number of interesting games… Including e.g. explorations of what happens if an existing solar system is subjected to several minutes of altered laws of physics, or how would it form if the laws were different…
That works until the very first time some hotshot disengages their governor, puts in some practice time on unrestricted vacuum flight, and then absolutely ROFLstomps his still-shackled opponents.
(And the first person to do that is likely to be the first person who ever tries to fly one of these things. People who dislike pushing the envelope do not become fighter pilots.)
No reason they couldn’t, I imagine. I’d really like to see that done in a coherent and entertaining way.
True that, and will happen in settings where you have an abundance of non-newbie pilots and enough fuel for copious practice. Which is the Achilles heel of many rebel operations. The Empire will outresource you easily. (Just be enough pest to take down their most skilled pilots so they have the same problem with training.)
Very true. On the other hand, there are bold pilots - and then there are old pilots. But good luck finding bold old pilots. (Maybe bald old pilots…)
There are already some physics-based simulators (of planetary systems, etc…); I’d say that with some waiting, this variant will show up on its own.
Most sci-fi either looks for creative loopholes in the known laws of physics, or else ignores them; there’s not nearly enough out there that deliberately experiments with radically different physical laws. (Do check out 
