Bad news for anyone hoping the petition to build a Death Star might be successful: the White House has struck back and shot down any chance of it happening.
In a light-hearted response, titled 'This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For', chief of the science and space branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget, Paul Shawcross, picks apart the petition. Still, at least the folks in charge of the US's purse strings have a sense of humour.
"The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense [sic], but a Death Star isn't on the horizon," Shawcross writes. He goes on to list a few reasons why. The $850,000,000,000,000,000 cost is one ("We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it"), as well as the fact the Administration "does not support blowing up planets."
Shawcross also raises the point: "Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?"
He points to the many space-based initiatives the US is pursuing, such as the International Space Station ("that's no Moon, it's a Space Station!") human missions to the Moon in this decade, and a powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Though he concedes "the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs".
(I was going to make some Star Wars jokes of my own, but Shawcross seems to have nicked all the best ones.)
Internet pranksters set up the original petition to "secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016". It had more than 34,000 signatures.
Let's hope the petition to keep Piers Morgan in the US is a little more successful. Or maybe we could deport him to Alderaan?
Image credit: LucasfilmÂ
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anonymous 12 January, 2013 16:41
Yeah lets waist the taxpayers money on some worthless explosion...
The people that signed the petition were probably on benefits, bloody scums.
Matt Tacchi 12 January, 2013 17:00
This is a fun article - I think it was good of Mr Shawcross to respond in a humorous fashion so as not to totally upset all those Star Wars fans ;) Especially the bit about the Death Star being susceptible to a "one man star ship" ;)
CaptainPicard 12 January, 2013 18:25
Some Americans are from another planet! Have they considered X-Wings or the Millennium Falcon or even something from Star Trek would be more economically viable? ;)
anonymous 12 January, 2013 21:40
Forbes worked out that it would cost US$852,000,000,000,000,000 (Or roughly 13,000 times the world’s GDP) plus it would take 833,315 years to produce enough steel to begin work the work.
The Iron ore would have to come from the Earths core as there isn't enough on the Earths crust.
anonymous 15 January, 2013 14:02
@anonymous 12 January, 2013 16:41.
Either you're attempting to be comically sarcastic or your being serious. Either way you appear to be devoid of a sense of humour. Perhaps you're a droid?