The Death Star Costs $15.6 Septillion

Keane Ng

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The Death Star Costs $15.6 Septillion



Good news, wannabe galactic overlords: you can build a Death Star with currently available materials and technology. Bad news: it'll cost you 1.4 trillion times the US debt.

Still, it is definitely doable, provided you are impossibly rich and have easy access to a space transport system, at least according to the calculations of Ryszard Gold [http://rickgold.info/ds/Site/Welcome.html], the winner of the name of the year award for 2009. First you'll need about 1.71 quadrillion cubic meters of steel, or, 134 quadrillion tons. That's about $12.95 quintillion (I had no ideas these numbers even existed) by modern day prices. Then, you need to get that into your construction site all the way out there in space, which, costs about $95 million per ton, which adds up to $12.79 septillion just to move your metal.

Once you've got the materials out there and have built your planetkiller, you need to fill it with air for people to breathe. That'll require 8.23 quintillion cubic meters of nitrogen and 1.65 quintillion cubic meters of oxygen. Add that all up and you've got a total shipment cost of $.281 septillion and $212.46 quintillion, and which brings us to a grand total of $15,602,022,489,829,821,422,840,226 and 94 cents. Which is 1.4 trillion times the current US debt and 1.11 trillion times the current amount of money available in the world, according to Gold.

So I guess it really isn't possible...yet. If you do happen to ever have that much money, though, keep in mind that these figures only apply to a bare-bones budget model Death Star. So no plush seats or weird creepy booth where Darth Vader gets his helmet taken off and takes a bath or whatever. And probably about a million thermal exhaust ports [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Thermal_exhaust_port] that punk Rebels can use to blow up your Death Star. Stupid kids, don't you know how much one of these things costs?

[Via Gizmodo [http://i.gizmodo.com/5146010/death-star-costs-156-septillion-14-trillion-times-the-us-debt]]

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nova18

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Vlane said:
Why do people waste their time with stuff like that?
Because it somehow validates their existence.

Seriously though, I'm gonna get me a shelfstacking job and spend the next 5 million years earning money, then I'm going on a planet-destroyed frenzy.

Then again, the deathstar was only that big to house all the storm-troopers, if I cut down on staff then I could cut down on size, material costs and construction time.
 

matrix3509

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Vlane said:
Why do people waste their time with stuff like that?
Because its fun, especially to Star Wars nerds.

Also if this is the cost of the Death Star, what about the cost of the Second Death Star? The Second Death Star IIRC was over twice the size of the original. Hmmm...

EDIT: This guy doesn't even take into account the labor required to mine the iron and the labor required to smelt the steel. I'm pretty sure you can have all the steel ever made or ever will be made and still not have enough, so you gotta start mining of other planets also. These calculations are extremely lazy. I mean, if you are gonna calculate something like this, why not go all out and take literally EVERYTHING into consideration? If he was a REAL Star Wars fan he would have.

Besides, I'm pretty sure the Death Star wouldn't be made out of something so primitive as steel.
 

Enigmers

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That 94 cents at the end makes me question the possibility of this project.
 

matrix3509

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Indigo_Dingo said:
Question - do those resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.

Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
I remember reading somewhere that the energy required to completely vaporize the Earth (ala Alderaan style) would be equivilant to the amount of energy the Sun puts out in 10 years.

So alot...
 

zacaron

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nova18 said:
Vlane said:
Why do people waste their time with stuff like that?
Because it somehow validates their existence.

Seriously though, I'm gonna get me a shelfstacking job and spend the next 5 million years earning money, then I'm going on a planet-destroyed frenzy.

Then again, the deathstar was only that big to house all the storm-troopers, if I cut down on staff then I could cut down on size, material costs and construction time.
/nod yup but if your going to target earth let me know I will apply for a job on your death star
 

Keane Ng

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Indigo_Dingo said:
Question - does that amount of resources actually exist on earth? Steel is still a finite resource, as is the energy a planet destroying laser requires.

If so, everybody make sure not to piss off Scrooge McDuck. I've no idea how much an obsquintificillion is, but I think it may be more than a septillion.


Also, the U.S. debt is nearly all the money on earth?
Apparently!
 

nova18

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zacaron said:
nova18 said:
Vlane said:
Why do people waste their time with stuff like that?
Because it somehow validates their existence.

Seriously though, I'm gonna get me a shelfstacking job and spend the next 5 million years earning money, then I'm going on a planet-destroyed frenzy.

Then again, the deathstar was only that big to house all the storm-troopers, if I cut down on staff then I could cut down on size, material costs and construction time.
/nod yup but if your going to target earth let me know I will apply for a job on your death star
Haha, I'll give you an advanced warning. I assure you, the interview process is a ***** though.
 

Damian_TF

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$15 septillion. . .

Just another reason to be immortal: it'd take that long just to raise half that much X.X
 

Blind0bserver

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Mar 31, 2008
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*takes out spare change in pocket and frowns*

Well, I have that 94 cents part taken care of, who's paying the rest?
 

ParkourMcGhee

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The real problem would be dynamic pricing, after starting construction the prices of materials would shoot up since there's very little or none left over on the earth XD.