China wants to get into Earth orbit of an artificial "moon"
Source:Authorities in the Chinese city of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, announced bordering on the fantastic plan to put into orbit an artificial «satellite-the moon». Local media, citing Chinese engineers report that the launch illumination is to take place in 2020. Work on the project has been underway for several years and is now coming to its main implementation phase. Artificial "moon" up to eight times will surpass in brightness the satellite and partially replace street lighting in the city of Chengdu.
According to the plan of engineers, the artificial "moon" would be a complement to natural lighting, with covering a radius of 10-80 km with a precision of several meters. The device has a very powerful reflective element that redirects the salt light on the desired area. Control of the satellite will be carried out remotely. The backlight will be adjusted so that it illuminated only Chengdu.
More technical features of artificial "moon" are not reported. However, according to engineers and officials, the technology will allow you to save on electricity that is spent on street lighting. In addition, the project will attract tourists.
Night lighting is not very bright, so the locals will appear at the dusky street. The lighting level will be sufficient to move freely through the streets and to distinguish objects.
Chinese experts claim that this light does not affect the leading nocturnal animals and birds, but environmentalists have a different opinion. In addition, some experts say that a similar setup can disturb the biological rhythm of the locals.
The Inspiration for the creation of artificial "moon" was the idea of one French artist, who offered to place in orbit a few mirrors. The idea assumed that mirrors will reflect sunlight and to maintain the level of street lighting in Paris all year round.
It is Worth noting that in 90-e years similar experiments to create artificial sunlight held Russia. It was planned to conduct three experiments, but only one was successful. The second fails and the third did not take place and the program was eventually closed.
Successful was the mission "Banner-2". Near the station the World was deployed reflector mounted on the ship "Progress". The installation created a bright spot with a width of 8 km. the Reflected light travels along a trajectory from southern France to Western Russia at a speed of 8 km/s. In the experiment "Znamya-2.5" was planned to unveil 25-metre reflector. The mirror was supposed to be perceived from the Earth as 5-10 full Moons in brightness and formed a trail of about 7 km in diameter, which can be managed, a long time holding it in one place. The experiment has failed. At the beginning of the disclosure of the shell caught on the antenna. The spacecraft "Progress M-40" was launched from orbit and sunk in the ocean.
Some experts point out that these attitudes can actually be of practical use, at least in theory. For example, these illumination satellites could be used in the areas of emergency incidents that do not have artificial lighting. In addition, such artificial lighting can be used in agriculture, increasing day length for growth.
To Discuss the draft Chinese engineers .
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