Death Star Costs $15.6 Septillion, 1.4 Trillion Times the US Debt 

If you had $15.6 septillion and 94 cents in your account, would you save the world from the economic crisis or build a Death Star, destroy the world, and move on to invade the galaxy?

A guy called Ryszard Gold -- who probably is an alien villain from the Outer Rim planets and got a 49-point score in our Geek Social Aptitude Test -- made the calculation of the most basic Death Star's price with current materials and space transport costs here on Earth. Here's a quick summary:

• First, assume that 1/10 of the 17.16 quadrillion cubic meters of the Death Star is something other than empty space and 6/10 of the total volume is pressurized space.
• That will require 1.71 quadrillion cubic meters of steel, about 134 quadrillion tonnes. That's $12.95 quintillion in current 2008 prices, and that's without counting strange alloys and elements.
• Shipping that to space will cost $95 million per tonne: So add $12.79 septillion in transport.
• Now you need to add air, which will require 8.23 quintillion cubic meters of Nitrogen, and 1.65 quintillion cubic meters of oxygen, for a total delivery cost of $2.81 septillions and $212.46 quintillion.

The total: $15,602,022,489,829,821,422,840,226.94.

Yes, that's a whooping 1.4 trillion times the current US Debt. Or a sightly more meaningful number: 124 trillion years of war in Iraq.

That will only get you the very basic model of Death Star, no options, no GPS, no radio, no leather heated seats, no mega-laser to obliterate planets, no turbolaser towers, no computer systems, no miscellaneous life support systems, no crew quarters, no turbo-elevators, no energy generators, no showers, no air conditioning, no Darth Vader's jacuzzi, no Emperor's home theater system, and no bloody canteen. And don't get me started on the cost of all the lunch trays and the constant supply of penne all'arrabbiata and peas needed for all the Death Star personell*. That will probably double the final bill, coupled with the construction costs, for a total of more than $31 septillions.

As for the answer to the first question, there's no doubt about it. But then again, I always liked the Emperor's robe. He goes naked everywhere and nobody notices.

*

Rick Gold wrote:

And if a society is at the level where they can contemplate building something like the Death Star, they've doubtless figured out how to mine the Asteroid Belt and similar "off-planet" sources of resources. And thus eliminated the single biggest cost of using planetary resources -- escaping the gravity well.

Originally Posted by: Wade 

If the emperor could afford two build TWO death stars, how big of a pimp daddy was he really, and where the hell did he get all that money?

Originally Posted by: Packers_Finland 

And if you already have one death star, find a particularly material rich planet, blow it up, and mine it that way. :)

Originally Posted by: Porforis 

Fuck a planet, how 'bout a whole star?

BPM37093, baby.

BPM37093- The diamond star 

Originally Posted by: dfosterf 

If you already had a roughly spherical object made of diamond and intended to construct a death star out of diamonds, it would make a hell of a lot more sense to not blow it up. Or you could just mount a giant catapult to your death star and fling BPM37093 at your enemies.

Originally Posted by: Porforis 

Fuck a planet, how 'bout a whole star?

BPM37093, baby.

BPM37093- The diamond star 

Originally Posted by: dfosterf