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White House petitioned to build the USS Enterprise

Once again, the Internet wants the highest office in the country to engage in making part of science fiction a reality.

 

Mike Fenn

Tech

Posted on Dec 28, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 4:36 am CDT

Once again, the Internet wants the highest office in the country to engage in making part of science fiction a reality.

In November, 4chan users petitioned the White House to build the Star Wars Death Star. The petition gained over 30,000 signatures, more than the 25,000 signatures necessary to receive an official response. So far, the White House has yet to publicly reply.

Now, the website BuildTheEnterprise.org has petitioned the White House with a new request.

“Assign NASA to do a feasibility study and conceptual design of the Gen1 USS Enterprise interplanetary spaceship.”

Since its Dec. 22 publication, the yearn to begin the fleet of starships popularized by Star Trek has received over 2,500 signatures. The goal of 25,000 signatures must be reached by Jan. 21.

The petition states that the U.S. currently has the technology needed to build the first generation of the USS Enterprise starship from the Star Trek series.

“This will be Earth’s first gigawatt-class interplanetary spaceship with artificial gravity. The ship can serve as a spaceship, space station, and space port all in one. In total, one thousand crew members & visitors can be on board at once,” the petition reads.

The BuildTheEnterprise.org website describes the potential Enterprise in far greater detail. Included are ship specifications, possible missions, and even funding tips.

On Reddit, the petition has received plenty of criticism—but also has some support.

Alucard256:

Okay.. trekkies are cute and all but not at this level. Like when they try to get Romulan (sp?) added as a nationally recognized language. I know you love your show, but there’s reality to worry about. Please don’t waste government time with this crap (wasting their time is their job).

shamananana:

If it were feasible and economical some businessman would already be doing it. America’s crumbling, they don’t have the resources for such frivolity.

Tario70:

I think it would be awesome to have a feasibility study on something like this. It would give ‘us’ a way to see where we really are in terms of space travel & hopefully give a roadmap of what we need to do in the future.

Since the first human to achieve warp speed, Dr. Zefram Cochrane, will not be born until 2030 (according to Star Trek lore), the government may face limited resources.

Photo via g7ahn/Flickr

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*First Published: Dec 28, 2012, 8:16 pm CST