Re: OT: Surely there's an SF story with this.....

To add to my previous comment, I think "The Brick Moon" (1869)
considered the question of making an artifical moon bright.
The "magnitude" of the actual Moon is given as -12.7.
The magnitude of the ISS is "up to" -6.  I don't
know if that's with guests staying.
I think Eandall Munroe wrote a thought experiment
od illuminating the Moon with an awful lot of
laser pointers.  It wouldn't be Randall if it
ended well.