The White House has, uh, blown up a petition to construct a real-life Death Star, the moon-sized superweapon in the "Star Wars" films that can destroy planets with a single beam. A White House official, Paul Shawcross, outlined many reasons for this, including the fact that the Obama administration is not keen on obliterating planets. "The Administration does not support blowing up planets," said Shawcross, chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget . Besides, he said the Death Star in the "Star Wars" film was destroyed after a tiny one-man starship hit it on the right spot. "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 said. The petition had asked the administration to secure resources and funding, and begin construction of a Death Star by 2016. Shawcross said that while the Obama administration shares the petitioners' desire for job creation and a strong national defense, "a Death Star isn't on the horizon." Other reasons he cited include:
1. 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," he said.
2. The International Space Station is already in orbit around the Earth and is helping us learn how humans can live and thrive in space for long durations.
"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," Shawcross added.
He also said the US has two spacecraft leaving the Solar System and is building a probe that will fly to the exterior layers of the Sun. Also, he said they 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.
Real-life robots "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," he added. Shawcross invited the petitioners to help build the future by pursuing a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field. He said President Barack Obama has held the first-ever White House science fairs and Astronomy Night on the South Lawn because he knows these domains are critical to the US' 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," he added.
— TJD, GMA News 
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