SpaceX, Nevada, launches a reflective art project in space. Here's what you'll see from Earth

SALT LAKE CITY – SpaceX plans to launch a number of objects in orbit this year, including a sculpture from the Nevada Museum of Art.

Why it's important: The sculpture, which will be "exposed" in space for two to three months, could be one of the most viewed sculptures in the history of humanity, according to CBS News.

• "We are looking at the sky and trying to understand what our destiny might be, or what our past might be or what the present might be, for me the project is really an opportunity for me to ask these big questions", " artist Trevor Paglen said.

What is going on: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will send nearly 70 satellites into Earth orbit in November, including this piece of art.

• Once enlarged, Paglen's sculpture, Orbital Reflector, will go from "a package the size of a shoebox to a diamond sculpture the size of two school buses," according to CBS.
• "For me, it was important to create a kind of catalyst for people to go out and look at the sky and think about … the politics of space and public space," Paglen said.
• Paglen was working with a team from the Nevada Museum of Art, which included experts who helped him build the sculpture.

What he does: The sunlight will be reflected on the orbital reflector, which will make the sculpture "visible from the Earth to the naked eye – like an artificial star moving slowly and as bright as a star of the Big Dipper", according to the site Web project.

Larger image: Space art has become a topic of contention among astronomers, according to The Atlantic.

Comment this story

• Some astronomers believe that art projects, such as the orbital reflector, do not belong to space. They believe that objects will disrupt scientific discovery.
• "This project brings nothing we did not already have," said Mark McCaughrean, a scientist at the European Space Agency, according to The Atlantic. "We already have many moving lights in the sky with which to engage the audience and attract it to the majesty of the night."
• "I think most people would appreciate a little more respect for the natural world rather than inserting another artificial structure," said Caleb Scharf, director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center, according to The Atlantic. "Paglen is very creative and has clearly deepened his work, but for those of us who spend our lives contemplating and communicating the cosmic, it seems to miss the critical point that the unobstructed night sky is a beast. on the way to crude. "