Author Topic: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition  (Read 13618 times)

Offline KelvinZero

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #20 on: 12/31/2012 09:56 am »
I think HSF should adopt this goal :)

Unless Congress stepped in and legislated that we first build a launcher capable of putting a deathstar into orbit in one piece, then the short term result would be to focus on exactly what I think HSF should be doing, charting a course between here and a massive space industry and doing technology development towards this goal.

The sorts of things (IMO) a rational approach would involve:
*A small space station at L2, to help prove we understand all the issues of living and working beyond low earth orbit.
*A propellant depot at L2, from which NASA would buy propellant, simultaneously allowing more mass-intensive prospecting of the solar system and developing cheap commercial access to L2.
*A heavy focus on ISRU, such as lunar ISRU and/or capturing small asteroids and delivering them to L2.
*A heavy focus on precursors, separate from planetary science. These should probably be on commercial landers because we don't just want to learn about what resources are available, but how to reach them repeatedly and cost effectively.
*A heavy focus on self sufficiency and the ability for a base (manned or unmanned) to self replicate. Exponential growth without exponential growth in earth's contribution is the only way we will ever manage to build anything really big in space.

Offline Robert Thompson

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #21 on: 12/31/2012 11:02 am »
It would be a sage and glorious day if those 33k signatures had anything at all to do with spaceflight. What would an analogous petition in support of HSF look like?

Offline Nomadd

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #22 on: 12/31/2012 11:28 am »
Erm, and what exactly would the US govt DO with this Death Star, once it is completed? IIRC, it is only good for blowing up whole planets, so its military value is nil if the enemy happens to be on the same planet as the owner...

 Hasn't stopped them from deploying 20,000 or so nukes. When the Russians built their copy, they could call it MAPA (Mutually Assured Planetary Destruction)
 I wonder what OS would be running it?
« Last Edit: 12/31/2012 11:29 am by Nomadd »
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Offline spaceStalker

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #23 on: 12/31/2012 01:05 pm »
RusDOS

Offline DMeader

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #24 on: 01/01/2013 12:10 am »
Erm, and what exactly would the US govt DO with this Death Star, once it is completed?

Pulverize Earth-threatening astroids?  Vaporize orbital debris?  Cue space-based solar power fans...

make really cool sci-fi movies?
« Last Edit: 01/01/2013 12:10 am by DMeader »

Offline go4mars

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #25 on: 01/01/2013 02:29 am »
Oh please.  They already built this through a black program called 'blackmoon'.  Named it Mimas. Cassini got some nice proof.   

"That's no moon..." -trying to remember who said that.  Was it Carolyn Porco?  Jek Porkins maybe?

Surely the next Death Star should be a bit cheaper now that we've already got the blueprints from the first one. Maybe $5 quadrillion or s ...  That's strange...    I could have sworn I had an extra copy of the blueprints here a minute ago...
« Last Edit: 01/01/2013 02:39 am by go4mars »
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Offline Mader Levap

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #26 on: 01/06/2013 05:00 pm »
The internet provides some of the best arguments against direct democracy as a form of government.
You would have to prove that any significant number of partipicants (including one that started it) was treating this petition seriously.

I would sign it for giggles, if someone put it on my table.
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Offline kch

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #27 on: 01/06/2013 05:15 pm »
Erm, and what exactly would the US govt DO with this Death Star, once it is completed?

Pulverize Earth-threatening astroids?  Vaporize orbital debris?  Cue space-based solar power fans...

make really cool sci-fi movies?

Exactly -- Disney's planning to make the rest of the Star Wars movies (maybe they should finance it) ... :D

Offline sanman

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #28 on: 01/12/2013 04:24 am »
The Whitehouse has issued its official response to the Deathstar petition:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking

Hehe - pure comedy gold!  ;D

Quote
Official White House Response to Secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016.
This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For

By Paul Shawcross

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 (here's how) 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.

Paul Shawcross is Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget
« Last Edit: 01/12/2013 04:25 am by sanman »

Offline Lar

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #29 on: 01/12/2013 04:30 am »
Regarding the response, which is now circulating on the Internet quite nicely... there is some credit taken where it is not due.

However I thought it was a pretty good response all in all and i was pleased to see Golden Spike linked to and positive things said about NewSpace...
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Offline scienceguy

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #30 on: 01/12/2013 04:33 am »
That's really funny
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Offline sanman

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Offline MP99

Quote from: White House response
However, look carefully (here's how) 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.

However, look carefully and you'll notice something already floating in the sky -- that's no Space Station, it's the Moon! Yes, we already have a giant moon larger than North America in orbit around the Earth that we should be exploring and learning how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations.

cheers, Martin

Offline aquanaut99

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #33 on: 01/12/2013 11:16 am »
Quote from: White House response
However, look carefully (here's how) 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.

However, look carefully and you'll notice something already floating in the sky -- that's no Space Station, it's the Moon! Yes, we already have a giant moon larger than North America in orbit around the Earth that we should be exploring and learning how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations.

cheers, Martin

Incidentally, that giant moon is considerably larger than both Death Star I and II (and without that famous fatal flaw). So instead of constructing such a huge object, why not just build a Superlaser directly on the Moon? It would fit the spirit (if not the letter) of the petition and still be much cheaper than $850 quadrillion...  ;)

Of course, in order to begin construction, we'd actually have to go back to the moon first...  :D
« Last Edit: 01/12/2013 11:18 am by aquanaut99 »

Offline KelvinZero

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #34 on: 01/12/2013 11:44 am »
How much to paint a big black line around its equator?

Online Chandonn

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #35 on: 01/12/2013 12:46 pm »
How much to paint a big black line around its equator?

The hard part is getting a large enough asteroid to impact the northern hemiphere and make just the right-size crater.  ;)

Offline JohnFornaro

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #36 on: 01/12/2013 02:55 pm »
How much to paint a big black line around its equator?

The hard part is getting a large enough asteroid to impact the northern hemiphere and make just the right-size crater.  ;)

We've already got the Aitkin Basin.  Just needs a bit of cleaning up.
Sometimes I just flat out don't get it.

Online catdlr

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #37 on: 01/12/2013 07:28 pm »
White House answers Death Star petition: No.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/white-house-answers-death-star-petition-no-171718726--politics.html

Quote
“The Administration shares your desire for job creation and a strong national defense,” writes Paul Shawcross, chief of the science and space branch of the White House’s budget office. But “the Administration does not support blowing up planets.”
« Last Edit: 01/12/2013 07:28 pm by catdlr »
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Online Chandonn

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #38 on: 01/12/2013 07:45 pm »
However, look carefully and you'll notice something already floating in the sky -- that's no Space Station, it's the Moon! Yes, we already have a giant moon larger than North America in orbit around the Earth that we should be exploring and learning how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations.

cheers, Martin

Incidentally, that giant moon is considerably larger than both Death Star I and II (and without that famous fatal flaw). So instead of constructing such a huge object, why not just build a Superlaser directly on the Moon? It would fit the spirit (if not the letter) of the petition and still be much cheaper than $850 quadrillion...  ;)

Of course, in order to begin construction, we'd actually have to go back to the moon first...  :D

But, since the moon is already in earth orbit, which planet should we destroy first?  :o

Offline Orbiter

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Re: Begin construction of a Death Star by 2016 - petition
« Reply #39 on: 01/12/2013 08:01 pm »
Good, good. Everything is going as I had foreseen.
KSC Engineer, astronomer, rocket photographer.

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