Artificial Moon- All you need to know about it

Artificial moon in china  

China is planning to launch its own ‘Artificial Moon’ by 2020 to replace streetlamps and lower electricity costs in south western city of Chengdu. The illuminated satellite would be eight times brighter than real moon, it will be part of country’s growing ambition in space. 

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How ‘Fake moon’ would work? 

Chinese scientists plan to send three artificial moons into space in the next four years, and the moons--- made from reflective material like mirror—are expected to orbit at 500 kilometers above the Erath and light up an area with diameter of 10 to 80 kilometers. Aerospace science and technology microelectronics system research institute corporation which developed the project, said the illuminating satellite would provide a “dusk-like glow”. 

The satellite brightness and service time are both adjustable and the accuracy of the lighting can be controlled within tens of meters. Three artificial moons would operate alternately in order to significantly infrastructure electricity consumption, especially during winter. 😮 

What is the purpose behind this project? 

The reason why china creating fake moons simply to save money, china officials stated that putting a fake moon in space could actually end up being cheaper than paying street lights. An area of 50sq km could save up to 1.2 billion yuan a year in electricity charges. Electricity at nigh is very expensive, so having free illumination for up to 15 years, it might work out better economically in the long term. 

It could also “illuminate blackouts areas” in any natural disaster event like earthquake. 

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How it would be possible? 

Scientifically, its viable the fake moon would have to be permanently in orbit over Chengdu - a relatively tiny areas when you look at the Earth from space, that would mean it would need to be geostationary orbit, which is about 37,000 km from the earth. 

And if you want to light up an area with an error of say 10km even if you miss by one 1ooth 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. 

Would fake moon cause a lot light pollution? 

Fake moons will cause much more 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. It will disrupt the night cycle of nature and this could possibly affect animals. 

Idea of fake moon 

The idea for the man-made moon originated from French artist who imagined hanging a necklace made of mirror in the sky to light up the streets of Paris at night. 

This is not a first time a space mirror to create daylight at night has actually been tried before, Russia attempted to launch a 25- meter “space mirror” but the project was put off in 1999.