Origins: It's a mixed pedigree; who built the Death Star depends on who you ask and when. The earliest sources gave credit to Grand Moff Tarkin, but subsequent storylines revealed a more convoluted development process. As it stands now, the idea may or may not have come from Raith Sienar, who shared it with Tarkin, who later commanded the battle station as built by the Geonosians to be the "ultimate weapon" for the Separatists during the Clone Wars. The thing took so long to build, that dozens of engineers contributed to key components -- folks like Bevel Lemelisk, Nasdra Magrody and Umak Leth -- but of course they'll pad out their CVs stating that they were the sole "creative genius" behind the station.
Plausible Non-Draconian Reason To Keep it Around: Why, it's used for deep-space mining! It's a very effective way of digging into the sweet, sweet ore found in the heart of planets.
Designer Gripes: Seems rather drab as far as color scheme goes. Also might want to rethink having big garbage chutes in the cell bays of high security detention levels.
Considerably Less Effective Name: The Orb-Bliterator.
Achilles Heel: A two-meter wide exhaust port, just below the main port.
Continuity Headache: Aside from its timeline-twisting origins, there's the not-so-little issue of the Death Star's diameter, which has changed over the years depending on what source you read. The latest measurements are 160 kilometers, though older books peg it at 120 klicks. Another point of contention is just what the Death Star looks like if you were to slice it down the middle. One take is that its "livable" surface is like an onion, with concentric levels that lead toward the station's core. The other is that the inside of the Death Star has stacked decks. Another headache: if you had to throw a dinner party and invite everyone who had ever stolen the Death Star plans, you'd be surprised at how many place settings you'd have to worry about.
Further Reading: Death Star, the 2007 Del Rey novel by Steve Perry and Michael Reaves, spotlights some of the unsung crewers and inhabitants. The Death Star Technical Companion, a 1991 roleplaying game companion from West End Games is worth reading for its description of the various departments and locales aboard the station, though some of its measurements are now out of date.
