The White House crushed the dreams of thousands of Star Wars fans yesterday when they officially rejected a petition to start building a Death Star by 2016. The petition wasn't quite as successful as the idiotic one to deport Piers Morgan, but it did garner over 34,000 signatures, 9,000 more than necessary to receive an official response from the White House. So, good to their word, the White House responded yesterday via on a post on their website; in the post, resident nerd Paul Shawcross (official title: Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget) gave some matter-of-fact reasons why a Death Star would be a bad idea for the country/universe in general:

  • 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?

Those are all fair points. Shawcross also took the opportunity to do 400 words of space bragging, mentioning already-in-existence projects like the International Space Station and NASA's Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office. Of course, neither of those are half as cool/nerdy as building a Death Star, but it's something, I suppose.

[Image via The White House]