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

On 8/29/2024 4:14 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

On 8/29/2024 1:07 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

Reflect Orbital
>
https://www.reflectorbital.com/lighting
>
is proposing to launch a fleet of orbital mirrors to provide lighting
to nighttime locations on the Earth.
>
They claim they will be able to light up a 5km diameter circle for
4 minutes. They're accepting reservations, but I can't find any
pricing. They expect to start in Q4 2025.
>
I'm *extremely* skeptical. To be even as bright as moonlight,
the mirror would have to appear 1/7 the area of the Moon in
the sky.
>
I can't think of a use case for 4 minutes of light, but they
also talk about using it to power up solar panel systems at
night, which makes no sense.
>
I think its either an art project, or some kind of scam to
fleece investors who are bad at math.

>
>
https://www.visitnorway.com/listings/the-giant-sun-mirrors-in-rjukan/3632/

 To my surprise, apparently the Soviets tried an orbital mirror,
with some success.
 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-russian-space-mirror-briefly-lit-night-180957894/