The "artificial moon" that could illuminate a city in China



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  The Moon Above Chengdu

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Chengdu is waiting for a "new moon" to illuminate its streets by 2020.

Create a "new moon" eight times brighter than our natural satellite. A luminous balloon made by the man who illuminates an entire city and is visible from other parts of the country and from abroad.

This is the goal of the Chengdu Aerospace Research Institute, one of the world's three most populous cities. Western China.

The planned date for placing this "artificial moon" in orbit in space is 2020, reported the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party . The People's Daily .

The objective is " save money to the city by eliminating the need for street lamps, because we expect that this artificial star can illuminate an area of ​​up to 80 kilometers in diameter, "says the report. ] Little is known about its height and size, nor about the financing of the project, but the idea is to reflect sunlight through wings that would work like solar panels.

  Chengdú streets

ED JONES / Getty Images [19659003] Scientists claim that the "brightness of this artificial moon" will avoid having to use lampposts

Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the organization responsible for the project, said at a conference in Chengdu on October 10 that if the launch is successful there will be three more in 2022 .

According to Chunfeng, this system could allow the city to save $ 170 million in electricity costs.

Another use could be to help relief during natural disasters. adds the specialist, while attracting tourists.

The scientist also said that this "moon" had been developing for several years.

But what impact could a giant mirror in space have?

to the flora and fauna of the earth which depends on nocturnal cycles? And plants, unaccustomed to excess light?

  Cows and the Moon

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Can it affect the excessive luster of an artificial "moon" to the life cycle of animals?

] As a "glow"

Several studies have shown that "many animals are very sensitive to the light and phases of the moon," said the scientific publication Live Science .

For example, nocturnal owls communicate with each other with feathers in their throats and scientists have discovered that their activity was increasing during the full moon, when it was becoming clearer.

And in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, hundreds of coral species simultaneously release their eggs and sperm at a major annual event related to the brightness of the moon.

However, Kang Weimin, of the Aerospace School of the Harbin Institute of Technology, China, said the artificial light "the moon" that they intend to build will be "similar to the glow of the sunset" and will not change the routines of animals. "

It will be designed to complement the Earth's natural satellite, said scientists

  Luna

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The Moon is the only natural satellite on Earth

] The Russian precedent

This is not the first time that a city intends to imitate the function of the moon

Russia has presented a similar project in the early 90s. acted as a "space mirror" in space orbit producing a light "equivalent to three to five full moons ", explains the American newspaper The New York Times . [19659005] Russia's idea was that its system covers an area about 5 kilometers in diameter, illuminating isolated regions of Siberia and western Russia, near the Arctic Circle.

Experience it envisaged the development of several mirrors of different sizes, controlled from the Russian space station.

In February 1993, a satellite placed the "mirror" 20 meters long, "proving that the idea was working well". The problem with which the scientists did not count was that the clouds prevented to see the light that projected.

Two hours later, it was destroyed in the Earth's atmosphere. In 1999, the project was completely canceled when a new 25-meter mirror was connected to an antenna during launch tests.

  Luna

Lam Yik Fei / Getty images


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