$15,602,022,489,829,821,422,840,226.94

[dendawg]

That's the cost of the most basic Death Star, in 2008 dollars.

That's

Fifteen Septillion,
Five-hundred six Sextillion,
Twenty-two Quintillion,
Four-hundred eighty nine Quadrillion,
Eight-hundred twenty nine Trillion,
Eight-hundred twenty one Billion,
Four-hundred twenty two Million,
Eight hundred forty Thousand,
Two-hundred twenty six Dollars,
and Ninety-four cents.

Holy shit, that's a lot of money!

[MannersMakethMan]

If I donate the 94 cents, who's volunteering to start the CS death star build?

[Broomjockey]

Yeah, but remember, that's with absolutely no infrastructure in place. I'm sure you could knock a couple quadrillion off the price if you had a space dock.

[Evil Queen]

If I donate the 94 cents, who's volunteering to start the CS death star build?

I got a dollar.

[Danno]

Of course, I can't accept that the Death Star's main building component is steel. You'd probably expect me to say it's some hi-tech superdense alloy, right?

On the contrary, the Empire is notorious for cutting corners. They skimp on everything from stormtrooper armor (plastic) to stormtrooper training (what's "aim?"), have shieldless tie fighters and walkers that can be crushed by Ewoks with logs tied to ropes. Naw, I'm gonna guess that large portions of the Death Star are composed of aluminum foil and duct tape.

[Broomjockey]

Maybe the second one, since they were able to fly right in it without a lot of difficulty, but not the first one. The fire from the explosion was completely the wrong colour for aluminum.

[Danno]

Good point. What's cheaper than aluminum? Balsa wood?

[Broomjockey]

Cardboard and silver paint?

[derangedperson]

Get a few independent contractors in there, and you're all set.

[Danno]

Great. Now I've got it in my mind that the Empire probably gets all its goods from a planet suspiciously resembling China, and its workers from a planet suspiciously resembling Mexico. In short, the Empire is Wal-Mart.

[Broomjockey]

The really funny part? My Star Wars "lounge Jazz" mp3s just came on.

[Aethian]

I'll donate 5 dollars....

Total: 6.94

What about Bamboo?

[Bright_Star]

Of course, I can't accept that the Death Star's main building component is steel. You'd probably expect me to say it's some hi-tech superdense alloy, right?

On the contrary, the Empire is notorious for cutting corners. They skimp on everything from stormtrooper armor (plastic) to stormtrooper training (what's "aim?"), have shieldless tie fighters and walkers that can be crushed by Ewoks with logs tied to ropes. Naw, I'm gonna guess that large portions of the Death Star are composed of aluminum foil and duct tape.

It's made of material that doesn't exist yet.

[dendawg]

It's made of material that doesn't exist yet.

Impossible! The story was set a long, long, time ago.

[Reyneth]

Impossible! The story was set a long, long, time ago.

Let me clarify - material that doesn't exist yet in our galaxy because we haven't discovered it or the alloy blend to make it. We're too far, far away to get that info.