[ad_1]
China expects in two years to send a satellite lighting in the space, according to Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the space contractor Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology.
The device was designed to illuminate an area of up to 80 km and works in addition to moonlight at night, Wu said during a national innovation and creative activity. mass business organized last week.
And the precise lighting range will be controlled in a few tens of meters, Wu added.
The power of the device to illuminate the Earth will be eight times stronger than that of the real moon, enough to replace the street lights.
The artificial moon will focus on the city of Chengdu in southwestern China.
The project was the idea of a French artist, who had imagined placing a row of mirrors on the Earth to reflect the sunlight in the streets of Paris all year round.
China's plans have not been unanimously praised, with some people living in the region worried about the impact a constant full moon could have on the daily routine of animals and astronomical observation, according to the Chinese newspaper. People's Daily Online.
Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace of the Harbin Institute of Technology, has downplayed their concerns, saying the light from the satellite would look like a glow similar to that of twilight therefore, it should not have any negative effects.
The latest CASC announcement came after Russia and China said they were considering joining their resources to build a base on the moon.
S addressing earlier this month to Channel One Russia, the head of the Russian space program Dmitry Rogozin said: "I do not rule out that as soon as we agree on the broad outlines of our lunar program with the Americans, it's time for our men to program.
"The creation of a research station on the surface of the Moon will probably be done with our Chinese partners.
"They can be equal partners in the next few years."
China and Russia are striving to bridge the gap with US achievements in space – the only country to have led an inhabited lunar mission.
China carried out its first inhabited space mission, which lasted 21 hours, and saw astronaut Yang Liwei travel around the Earth in 2003.
Since then, China has made incredible progress in its space program.
From 2000 to November 2012, the country sent a total of 111 rockets and hundreds of satellites in space.
He also drove four manned spacecraft with eight Chinese astronauts and launched a space laboratory in the sky.
CASC is a national space and defense giant with more than 170,000 employees, eight major academies and a dozen listed companies.
In 2018, it ranked 343th in the Fortune Global 500 ranking, making it the fourth largest aerospace company in the world in terms of revenue, after Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin.
(Additional report by Maria Ortega)
Source link
