Chinese plan to build an artificial moon to public lighting. Prediction to launch in 2020.
Source: Futurism
On Tuesday, media platform CIF News reported that the Chinese city plans to launch an illumination satellite into the sky in 2020. This “artificial moon” will be eight times as bright as the Earth’s natural one, according to the report — bright enough to replace all the streetlights currently illuminating the city at night.
The Chinese city is Chengdu, has a population about 4,600,000 inhabitants. Stays in China’s central region, in Sichuan province.
The artificial moon isn’t some giant lightbulb in the sky — a coating on the satellite‘s adjustable wings will simply reflect sunlight onto the city.
The institute predicts the artificial moon will be able to illuminate an area between 10 and 80 kilometers (approximately 6 and 50 miles) in diameter and will be ready for launch within two years.
Those concerned that this atmospheric night light will disturb wildlife in Chengdu needn’t be — researcher Kang Weimin told People’s Daily Online the satellite will produce a dusk-like glow that’s dim enough to not affect the city’s animal population.
Will this satellite really reduce the city’s light pollution? This is a serious problem in urban centers, I have written a post about this subject. Click in button to see.
