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From: Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: OT: Surely there's an SF story with this.....
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 2024 14:14:17 -0400
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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/

I don't get it - the math says this shouldn't work.

pt