Death Star: NASA engineer reveals Empire could have re-purposed asteroid to create ultimate weapon

Daily Mail ^ | December 11, 2015 | Cheyenne MacDonald

[rickmichaels]

A NASA engineer has proposed a method to efficiently build a Death Star, and it's not the way the Empire would have done it.

Instead of constructing the massive weapon from nothing, by shooting materials out from a planet, an asteroid could be used to provide all of the essential building blocks.

The Empire is doing things the hard way; using an asteroid to build a Death Star would require much less work, as metals and organic compounds would already be there.

[ClearCase_guy]

Hmmmmmmmm ... mining the asteroids?? Why hasn’t anyone ever thought of this before?? /s

[WhatNot]

The Empire wanted to, but the galactic environmental wackos threw a hissy fit.

[Little Ray]

Well, if you look at the no-longer-canon Star Wars books, the Empire was actually building a ship killer to take out the giant World Ships of the anticipated extra-galatic Yuuzhan Vong invasion.
The fact that it also worked on rebellious planets was just a bonus.

[mrsmith]

“Re-purposed”
LOL!
What ‘purpose’ did the asteroid have in the first place?

There’s an alien plot to use the media to destroy critical thinking on Earth.

[BenLurkin]

I have a better idea.

Put motors on asteroids that are the size of a two story house and drive them down on the target planet.

[Norm Lenhart]

You were watching Gundam reruns weren’t you ;)

[Billthedrill]

"I proposed it to NASA, who said it was impossible. Air Force ain't interested either, they've had one for the last ten years."

...and if you're old enough to remember Dr. Atomic Comix, you're TOO OLD!

[Dan Cooper]

Dragon's Fury ping!

Mr. Head's novel's deal with this scenario is a very realistic way.

[Dan Cooper]

Using the asteroid material as a weapon, that is.

[KarlInOhio]

Put motors on asteroids that are the size of a two story house and drive them down on the target planet.

[piytar]

Ya beat me to it...

[onedoug]

NASA. muslims in space. Now there’s an idea....

[RC one]

seems like you could use nanobots to do much of the repurposing once the technology has advanced. maybe in a few decades at the rate were going.

[HartleyMBaldwin]

Paging John Ringo! Might be a story here, John. Oh, wait . . .

[silverleaf]

Lol!

[Vermont Lt]

Didn’t Heinlin suggest that in Starship Troopers? (The book, not that movie. Although the women in the movie took up the slack for the rest of the film.)

[camle]

we’re paying this guy to speculate on sci-fi movies?

[BenLurkin]

I was thinking more of the bombardment from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. And of the alien planet in This Island Earth.

[Vermont Lt]

My sci fi repertoire is pretty thin. I will have to look those up. Thanks.