China to launch Artificial Moon to light up Night Sky
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Published: 22nd Oct, 2018
Chinese scientists are planning to launch an artificial moon into orbit by 2020 to illuminate city streets after dark.
Scientists are hoping to hang the man-made moon above the city of Chengdu, the capital of China’s south-western Sichuan province.
Context
Chinese scientists are planning to launch an artificial moon into orbit by 2020 to illuminate city streets after dark.
Scientists are hoping to hang the man-made moon above the city of Chengdu, the capital of China’s south-western Sichuan province.
About
The imitation celestial body — essentially an illuminated satellite — will bear a reflective coating (similar to how the moon shines) to cast sunlight back to Earth, where it will supplement streetlights at night.
Scientists estimated that the "illumination satellites" could be eight times more luminous than the actual, original moon and will shine in tandem with the real moon.
The illuminated satellite is designed to complement the moon at night. Its expected brightness, in the eyes of humans, will be around one-fifth of normal streetlights.
It will orbit much closer to Earth; about 500 km (310 miles) away, compared to the moon’s 380,000 km (236,000 miles) and light up an area with a diameter of 10 to 80 kilometres.
The satellites’ brightness and service time are both adjustable, and the accuracy of the lighting can be controlled within tens of metres.
If the project proves successful, it could be joined by three more additions to the night sky in 2022.
The three artificial moons would operate alternately in order to significantly reduce infrastructural electricity consumption, especially during winter.
China’s space experiment is not a first of its kind project. In the 1990s, Russia experimented with using an orbital mirror to reflect sunlight on some of its sun-deprived northern cities. However, the project was abandoned in 1999 after the mirror failed to unfold and was incinerated in the atmosphere.
In January, American firm Rocket Lab launched an artificial star into space. But scientists criticized the “Humanity Star,” as the reflective mini-satellite was dubbed, for contributing to artificial light pollution and cluttering in Earth’s orbit.
Significance
It is estimated that new moons could save the city of Chengdu around 1.2 billion Yuan ($173 million) in electricity costs annually, and could even assist first responders during blackouts and natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods.
According to the experts, much more testing needs to be done to ensure the plan is viable and will not have a detrimental effect on the natural environment.