In a move that is certainly not the first step towards an Elysium-type society where the haves rule the stars and the have-nots blunder about below, China is launching an artificial moon into the sky. Made from a satellite coated in reflective material, the moon will glow in the night, illuminating the streets and cutting down on electricity used by street lights, Chinese state media reports. If all goes according to plan, the first moon will launch above the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan province in 2020. More moons will follow. This energy-saving "illumination satellite" will orbit 500 kilometers above the Earth, casting a glow that is eight times stronger than the real moon, but one-fifth as bright as street lights, Wu Chunfeng, chief of the Tian Fu New Area Science Society, told China Daily. And it won't benignly sit up there to help folks get home at night. The coverage of the moon can reportedly be accurately adjusted within a few dozen meters, fine-tuned for luminosity, and used to pin-point and help disaster zones. There are concerns the man-made moon will affect people and animals with light pollution, or impede scientific equipment. But the satellites will be tested in the desert first, Wu assured, and not launched until fully approved. Whether it will look totally eerie in the night sky or not remains to be seen. Back in '90s, Russia tried to do a similar thing with a giant mirror to reflect sunlight on super cold Russians cities. That failed due to the mirror malfunctioning. Here's hoping China's fake moon plan doesn't turn into a sci-fi horror story situation. Sarah Rense Sarah Rense is the Lifestyle Editor at Esquire, where she covers tech, food, drinks, home, and more. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io<doc-sep>The country’s government has announced plans to send a fake moon–or even a few fake moons–into the sky over Chengdu, in the southwestern Sichuan province. Officials hope to launch the artificial moon in 2020 so its fake light can brighten the shadows. The so-called “illumination satellites” are not meant to replace the moon, China Daily reports. Instead, the satellites will be designed to complement the light of the real moon, although it’s hard to imagine they won’t outshine the real thing, as their light is expected to be eight times brighter. The government hopes the illumination satellites will make the “moonlight” a little brighter and lessen the need for street lamps and lower electricity costs, state media reported. The satellites will provide a “dusk-like glow” over the city capable of either spreading their artificial light over a large swath of the city or pinpointing a few feet, which could let the city replace streetlights. The fake moon was dreamed up by Wu Chunfeng, the chairman of private space contractor Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute Co (Casc), which is the main contractor of China’s space program. He reportedly has already started testing the satellites and hopes to have them lighting up the night sky in just a few years. The satellite will produce light thanks to a reflective coating that can “deflect sunlight” back to Earth in the same way the moon does, according to China Daily.<doc-sep>Fake moon: Could China really light up the night sky? Published 20 October 2018 image copyright Getty Images image caption The Moon, seen over Chengdu, could be backed by a fake one - but there would be significant hurdles A Chinese company has announced ambitious plans to put a "fake moon" into space to brighten the night sky. According to the People's Daily state newspaper, officials at a private aerospace institute in Chengdu want to launch this "illumination satellite" in orbit by 2020, and say it will be bright enough to replace street lights. The straight-out-of-sci-fi news has sparked fascination, scepticism from scientists, lots of questions and outright mockery. What do we know about this project? Not much - and the little information that is available is somewhat contradictory. People's Daily first reported it last week, quoting comments made at an innovation conference by Wu Chunfeng, chairman of the neatly named Chengdu Aerospace Science Institute Microelectronics System Research Institute Co, Ltd. Mr Wu said the idea had been in testing for a few years and the technology was now in place to make it happen, with a launch scheduled for 2020. The China Daily newspaper quoted Mr Wu as saying that three "huge mirrors" could be launched by 2022. It's not clear from any of the reports whether this project has any official backing. How might a 'fake moon' work? The artificial moon would work as a mirror, reflecting sunlight back to Earth, according to China Daily. It would orbit 500km about Earth - roughly the same height as the International Space Station. The Moon orbits, on average, about 380,000km above Earth. The reports gave no details about what the fake moon would look like, but Mr Wu said it would reflect sunlight across an area of between 10km and 80km with brightness "eight times" that of the real Moon. According to Mr Wu, both the accuracy and intensity of the light would be controllable. But... why? To save money. It might sound ridiculous but the Chengdu aerospace officials say putting a fake moon in space could actually end up being cheaper than paying for street lights. image copyright Getty Images image caption The cost of street lights could outweigh the cost of the satellite, Chengdu aerospace officials say China Daily quoted Mr Wu as saying illuminating an area of 50sq km could save up to 1.2bn yuan ($173m; £132m) a year in electricity charges. It could also "illuminate blackout areas" after, say, a natural disaster like an earthquake. "Think of this as sort of an investment," Dr Matteo Ceriotti, a lecturer in Space Systems Engineering at the University of Glasgow, told the BBC. "Electricity at night is very expensive so if you could say, have free illumination for up to 15 years, it might work out better economically in the long term." OK but is it possible? Scientifically, it's viable, says Dr Ceriotti. But to serve its purpose, the fake moon would have to be permanently in orbit over Chengdu - a relatively tiny area when you look at the Earth from space. image copyright Getty Images image caption There is already a fair amount of light pollution in Chengdu That would mean it would need to be in geostationary orbit, which is about 37,000km from the Earth. "The only problem is at that distance you'd need the satellite pointing direction to be extremely accurate," said Dr Ceriotti. "If you want to light up an area with an error of say 10km, even if you miss by one 100th of a degree you'll have the light pointing at another place." And to have any impact from that distance, the mirror would have to be truly colossal. What impact would this have on the environment? Kang Weimin, director at the Harbin Institute of Technology, told the People's Daily that the light of the satellite would be similar to a "dusk-like glow" and "should not affect animals' routines". But social media users in China have concerns. image copyright Getty Images image caption Has anybody thought what another moon would mean for moths? Some said it will surely confuse nocturnal animals, while others say that many cities in China already suffer from light pollution. "The moon would significantly increase the night-time brightness of an already light-polluted city, creating problems for Chengdu's residents who are unable to screen out the unwanted light," John Barentine, director of Public Policy at the International Dark Sky Association, told news outlet Forbes. Dr Ceriotti told the BBC that if the light is too strong "it will disrupt the night cycle of nature and this could possibly affect animals". "But conversely if the light is so faint then the question is, what is the point of it?" Is this a first? No, a space mirror to create daylight at night has actually been tried before. In 1993, Russian scientists released a 20m-wide reflector from a supply ship heading to the Mir Space Station, which was orbiting at between 200km and 420km. Znamya 2 briefly beamed a spot of light about 5km in diameter to Earth. The light marched across Europe at 8km/hr, before the satellite burned up on re-entry.<doc-sep>
There’s a certain joy in venturing outside at night and navigating by the glow of the moon. Sadly the moon is never quite bright enough to read a street sign, or to illuminate a sidewalk hidden under a tree’s shadow—but a Chinese space company aims to fix that. Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute Company (CASC) plans to build an artificial moon that would be eight times brighter than the real moon, reports Chinese newspaper The People’s Daily. The fake moon would actually a satellite, built to light areas between 6 and 50 miles wide, and would replace streetlights in the city of Chengdu. The satellite is expected to launch in 2020, and Wu Chunfeng, CASC chairman, says testing has already begun. Meanwhile, other groups are trying to make the world dark again. A 2016 study showed that more than 80% of the world, and 99% of people in the US and Europe, live in “light-polluted” areas, where the sky’s natural glow has been altered by artificial light from buildings and street lamps. Entire cities, like Flagstaff, Arizona and Ketchum, Idaho, are actively working to reduce light emissions at night. Both are certified “dark sky communities” by a group called the International Dark Sky Association, which offers dark sky designations to towns, parks, reserves, sanctuaries, and other places actively working towards a “more natural night sky.” Beyond aesthetics, there’s growing evidence that light pollution affects our health. Research shows excess light at night messes with our sleep, which is linked to increased risk for cancer, obesity (paywall), and depression. It also disturbs the natural patterns of wildlife: nocturnal animals like bats are less active in light-polluted areas; animals that use light to navigate, like birds and sea turtles, get confused (paywall); even plants’ lifestages are disrupted by the extra light. Cumulatively, these changes could alter entire ecosystems. To address concerns about the artificial moon’s affect on wildlife, the People’s Daily quoted Kang Weimin, the director of optics at Harbin Institute of Technology, who said “the light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals’ routines.” But given that current levels of light pollution levels already throw off animal routines, a constant “dusk-like glow” would only make things worse.