Saturday 12 January 2013

I'D VOTE TO BUILD THE DEATHSTAR

Deathstar about to destroy Alderaan?
I came across an interesting news today about making the Deathstar from Star Wars. I am of course a BIG BIG Star Wars fan, I watched Episode 4 when I was 8 years old. So when I saw the headline about making the Deathstar, I was of course delighted and excited albeit a bit curious as to why we would need one.

It seems this idea of making a Deathstar was submitted as an official petition to the United States government via the "We The People" website created by the US government. The website explains itself as follows:
The right to petition your government is guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. We the People provides a new way to petition the Obama Administration to take action on a range of important issues facing our country. We created We the People because we want to hear from you. If a petition gets enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response.
So for those of us who have no idea what this petition website is all about, please visit We The People and find out. In a nutshell, the US government created this petition channel for the people to petition their government for almost anything and the government is obliged to answer.

Now back to the Deathstar story, the original petition made some logical arguments about job creation and national defense.
Those who sign here petition the United States government to secure funding and resources, and begin construction on 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.
Since the government is obliged to reply, they did. The reply came from Paul Shawcross, chief of the science and space branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget. And boy, was his reply on the money.
The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense, but a Death Star isn't on the horizon. Here are a few reasons:
  • The construction of the Death Star has been estimated to cost more than $850,000,000,000,000,000. We're working hard to reduce the deficit, not expand it.
  • The Administration does not support blowing up planets.
  • Why would we spend countless taxpayer dollars on a Death Star with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship?
However, look carefully and you'll notice something already floating in the sky - that's no Moon, it's a Space Station! Yes, we already have a giant, football field-sized International Space Station in orbit around the Earth that's helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations.
The Space Station has six astronauts -- American, Russian, and Canadian - living in it right now, conducting research, learning how to live and work in space over long periods of time, routinely welcoming visiting spacecraft and repairing onboard garbage mashers, etc. We've also got two robot science labs - one wielding a laser - roving around Mars, looking at whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.
Keep in mind, space is no longer just government-only. Private American companies, through NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office (C3PO), are ferrying cargo - and soon, crew - to space for NASA, and are pursuing human missions to the Moon this decade.
Even though the United States doesn't have anything that can do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, we've got two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and we're building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. We are discovering hundreds of new planets in other star systems and building a much more powerful successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that will see back to the early days of the universe.
We don't have a Death Star, but we do have floating robot assistants on the Space Station, a President who knows his way around a light saber and advanced (marshmallow) cannon, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is supporting research on building Luke's arm, floating droids, and quadruped walkers.
We are living in the future! Enjoy it. Or better yet, help build it by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. The President has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to our country's future, and to ensuring the United States continues leading the world in doing big things.
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.
Haha..what a story. It would be a real novelty to have a Deathstar roaming our galaxy, zapping useless planets or maybe asteroids or comets or any chunk of rock that was zooming in to collide with Earth but I have to agree with Mr Shawcross that our resources are better used somewhere else. Although Darth Vader would not necessarily agree.
Mr Shawcross, I find your lack of faith...........disturbing.
To read the petition and answer in its original form, please visit here.

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