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From: Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: OT: Surely there's an SF story with this.....
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2024 21:30:16 +0100
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On 29/08/2024 19:07, 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.

Area?

Start here: the Moon is quite dark (Pink Floyd,
"It's All Dark, Really").  I take albedo 0.12
to mean that it would be 8 times brighter
if painted white.  Also it sheds light in all
directions.  And, without checking your article,
I assume the mirror will be /nearer/.
My bathroom mirror has an apparent size much
larger than the Moon.

> 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.

Pop concert, one song.  Or the _Romeo and Juliet_
balcony scene.  Or boil an egg.

> I think its either an art project, or some kind of scam to
> fleece investors who are bad at math.
> 
> Still, very stfnal.
> 
> pt