The Chinese are clearly light years ahead of the rest. Only recently, the country unveiled a new-fangled plan to launch a moon into space by 2020, the primary reason being to brighten up the sky.
Leading publication China Daily was informed by Wu Chunfeng, head of Tian Fu New Area Science Society in Chengdu in southwest China that the plan is to “place the moon” into orbit above Chengdu via the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province by 2020. And, in case the project is a success, three additional “moons” will be launched by 2022.
The artificial moon will find its place 310 miles above Earth. To put things into perspective, it’s 761 times closer than our actual Moon.
“It’s expected brightness, in the eyes of humans, is around one-fifth of normal streetlights,” Wu told China Daily.
Given China’s bizarre population and requirement for electricity, the “moons” could save Chengdu about $173 million (1.2 billion yuan) in annual electricity costs. More so, the invention will be extremely handy in times of natural calamities and blackouts. Of course, additional tests need to be conducted before the launch in order to ensure the artificial moon won’t have a negative impact on the environment.
[Via:Geekologie]
