I hope this is just AI slop. Imagine trying to cloudsource flashlights…
Yup, just what we need, MORE $$$ crap in space.
I’m pretty sure our solar system is in a natural light/dark harmony. We’re past masters at interrupting entire eco systems, the human ego and assumption of control over nature will likely be our downfall.
I really hate calling things dumb, but this is the dumbest idea I’ve seen in a long time.
The article says the mirrors will produce a light that is 4x brighter than a full moon, which is 1 lux. The solar energy collected for one hour at this intensity is equivalent to 0.036 seconds of noon sunlight exposure. So they have effectively extended daylight not for hours, but for milliseconds. Great job.
For illumination and disaster response purposes, land-based light sources are much more mobile and flexible; a lot of handheld flashlights can put out 1 lux across kilometers of distance or, with just a few units, square kilometers of coverage. Also, if the affect area happens to be cloudy, smoky, or otherwise obstructed from a clear view of the entire sky, then best of luck to you.
If anything, this project looks like a conspiracy to trap humanity on Earth via the Kessler syndrome, generating space debris at a rate that we simply have no way to deal with. The huge surface areas of the mirrors are prime targets for space debris impact.
No, no, no.
Someone’s watched Die Another Day too many times
I recall a similar story (5 years ago??) about China thinking of doing this. I think the gist of it was they would save a lot of energy because they wouldn’t have to run street lights in certain cities for a few hours into the early night time. I don’t recall estimates as to how bright things would be or how much of an area one satellite mirror would be able to cover.
It is not a new idea.
I do think it is a bad idea.
There’s no way it’s going to be enough light to grow crops or produce solar power.
AI tells me that Hermann Oberth first proposed using giant space mirrors to beam sunlight to Earth in 1923.
His book, The Rocket into Planetary Space.
Claims about illuminating cities, preventing frost and influencing local weather.
In the 1990s Russia tested the Znamya 2.
A 20 meter aluminized Mylar mirror reflected a 5 km wide beam of light that swept across Europe at dawn. About equal to moonlight.
6 years later they attempted a larger mirror satellite but the mirror ripped on deployment and they de-orbited The satellite to burn up upon reentry.
Being unfamiliar with botanicals, is there a specific spectrum of light that grows plants best, or will they just grow differently according to whatever wavelengths they happen to get?
**Visible light won’t be the only wavelength being reflected down, and to me that’s some cause for concern…ultrafocused beams cutting the ozone layer, ultrafocused UV forming ground ozone…
That is a very interesting question, and I don’t the answer to it. If we care about the problem of “minimizing the radiometric power of a source while maintaining the same level of plant growth”, the optimal solution is probably close to a red-blue blend like a grow light. But if power usage is not a concern, my guess would be that some slight tweak on sunlight is ideal, just because it’s what plants have evolved to adapt to.
Given that the “ultrafocused beam” is 0.0001% as intense as the midday sun, I think there is not much to worry. For the same reason, it is also completely useless for the claimed purposes.
Phew…as @gravelmonkey said, we get to “Die Another Day”…
Hopefully it won’t cause a butterfly cascade effect*
We are now deorbiting 1 or 2 satalites a day. Putting any thing else in space is a bad idea.
N Tesla showed how to do it without going to space, he energized ionosphere, and turned night into cloudy day, but like mentioned above, earth plats and animals, need those cycles, what happens to nocturnal animals, and what happens with durinal animals? they need day/night cycles, so do plants, We no doubt will change ecosystem in a relatively short time.
I do realize there can be a benefit for lighting up only certain parts, like cities, or have a satellite like that follow a ship in the sea, but is investment really worth it?