China's plan to light up the night with a 'moon' sat will pretty much destroy any chance you have of getting away from the visual influence of man anywhere on the planet:
Chengdu to launch "artificial moon" in 2020
Southwestern China’s city of Chengdu plans to launch its illumination satellite, also known as the “artificial moon”, in 2020, according to Wu Chunfeng, chairman of Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Wu made the remarks at a national mass innovation and entrepreneurship activity held in Chengdu on Oct. 10.
The illumination satellite is designed to complement the moon at night. Wu introduced that the brightness of the “artificial moon” is eight times that of the real moon, and will be bright enough to replace street lights.
The satellite will be able to light an area with a diameter of 10 to 80 kilometers, while the precise illumination range can be controlled within a few dozen meters.
The idea of the "artificial moon" came from a French artist, who imagined hanging a necklace made of mirrors above the earth, which could reflect sunshine through the streets of Paris all year round.
The testing of the illumination satellite started years ago, and now the technology has finally matured, explained Wu.
Some people expressed concern that the lights reflected from space could have adverse effects on the daily routine of certain animals and astronomical observation.
Kang Weimin, director of the Institute of Optics, School of Aerospace, Harbin Institute of Technology, explained that the light of the satellite is similar to a dusk-like glow, so it should not affect animals’ routines.
This I gotta see, if they succeed. However, do we really need more light pollution at night? We can barely see the stars anymore. Leave it to the Chinese to screw up the night.
Cat (n.) A bipolar creature which would as soon gouge your eyes out as it would cuddle.
Tunnelcat wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:13 pm
This I gotta see, if they succeed. However, do we really need more light pollution at night? We can barely see the stars anymore. Leave it to the Chinese to screw up the night.
Exactly. There are also some terrible human beings that want to put advertising in space. Can you imagine ads for Apple floating over your campsite while you're just trying to enjoy a natural starry night and watch the Milky Way or shooting stars?
. "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"- Mao Zedong
For gawds sake, can't we at least leave SPACE ad free? I'm envisioning a time when everything looks like the ad saturated dreary city in Blade Runner where no one can escape being constantly bombarded with ad noise and video. Hopefully I'll be dead long before that ever happens.
Cat (n.) A bipolar creature which would as soon gouge your eyes out as it would cuddle.
