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- Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, wants to launch a lighting satellite in 2020.
- The artificial moon would be eight times brighter than the real moon.
- Some fear that the plan will worsen the problem of light pollution.
A city in southwestern China has announced an unusual plan to illuminate the streets of the city, which seems to be more science fiction than science.
Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, plans to launch an "artificial moon" in 2020, People's Daily Online reports.
According to the Chinese newspaper, Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the Chengdu Research Institute for Microelectronic Systems for Aerospace Science and Technology, described the artificial moon at a conference earlier this month.
It would actually be a lighting satellite, and it would be eight times brighter than the moon.
The artificial moon would have solar panel-type wings with a highly reflective coating to reflect sunlight on the ground, the Asia Times reported. Other details, such as the exact cost and launch date, have not been published.
The satellite could light an area 6 to 50 miles in diameter.
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Wu added that the lighting satellite tests had started years ago and that he was ready to be used in the space.
It would not be the first time that a spatial mirror was tested. In 1999, Russian scientists launched from the Mir space station a prototype of giant reflectors capable of transmitting sunlight to the northernmost cities during dark winters. The Associated Press reported. The mirror, called Znamya 2, is stuck and could not be opened completely.
The prospect of constant light at night does not excite everyone.
John Barentine, director of public policy at the Dark-Sky International Association, told Forbes magazine: "Chengdu's" artificial moon "would have the effect to dramatically increase the nighttime brightness of a city already polluted by light, creating problems for both residents of Chengdu, who are unable to filter unwanted light, as well as for the population of urban wildlife that can not just go inside and shut the shutters. "
The People's Daily Online wrote that Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, had explained that the light from the satellite would be like a twilight glow; therefore, this should not affect the animals' routine.
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