SALT LAKE CITY – The United States won’t be making a real-life version of the Death Star from “Star Wars” anytime soon.
More than 34,000 people signed a petition on “We the People,” a website created by the Obama Administration to offer citizens the opportunity to express their opinions with petitions to the White House, calling for the U.S. to begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.
“By focusing our defense resources into a space-superiority platform and weapon system such as a Death Star, the government can spur job creation in the fields of construction, engineering, space exploration, and more, and strengthen our national defense,” the petition reads.
But Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House office of Management and Budget, said in a response – titled “This isn’t the petition response you’re looking for,” a nod to the Star Wars franchise – that it isn’t going to happen.
Shawcross says that the construction of a Death Star is estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s $850 quadrillion) and the administration is working to reduce the deficit, not increase it.
Plus, Shawcross asks why would they spend so much money on construction of a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be destroyed by one guy?
Shawcross’s response goes on to list some was the U.S. is already making advances in space research, including NASA’s “C3PO” and the International Space Station.
“If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star’s power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force,” the response concluded.
