Artificial Shooting Stars - Turning the Sky Into A Lightshow

A Japanese company called ALE is considering shooting pellets from orbit and into Earth's atmosphere so to provide man-made shooting stars on demand.

Some 8,100 US dollars each, these artificial shooting stars will be pellets which will emit bright streaks of light as they will enter Earth's atmosphere and encounter friction with air. ALE intends on providing these artificial shooting stars on demand for not only birthdays and other festivity, but also for scientific application, namely the study of the atmosphere.

For Hironori Sahara, associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University’s aerospace engineering department, the project offers a rare chance to observe a part of the atmosphere about which little is known.

The altitude at which the artificial stars will burst to life—above 60 kilometres up—is too high for balloons and too low for spacecraft, so it is difficult to study.

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I have always wondered why no one ever thought about spreading some artificial shooting stars during festivities instead of using potentially-dangerous explosive fireworks.

Well, it seems someone finally thought about it!

Of course, there is the price. The satellite (still not built) to carry these pellets into space is the main financial obstacle.

or they could harvest materials from the moon

originally posted by: amsterdamn87
or they could harvest materials from the moon

or use old defunct satellite material
Get payed twice bill the old sat. owner
then sell the made made meteor show

Thank you for ordering our Shooting Star show, would you like to order our Full Blown Meteor Shower with impact at you desire, half price, strike now, one time offer

Uh, Hello? Can I order one of those, whaddaya call 'em? Uh, Dinasour Killers? My kid's Bar Mitzvah is next week, and he'd love it. Make that 2, OK?

Thanks...

a reply to: netbound

Can I order ze megablasster hyper-terror special pleese, to be delivered to Peoples Democratic Republic of Hoodafucc!

Have a nice day tovaritch...

a reply to: netbound

The dinosaur killer was 6 miles large.

The shooting star is half an inch at most.

Just saying.

originally posted by: amsterdamn87
or they could harvest materials from the moon

Too far of a ride... It'd be like an Apollo-scale mission each times someone orders for a shooting star.

Plus, once on the Moon, you'd need a second takeoff to carry the dirt back to Earth.

And, well, we already have enough stuff here on Earth in the first place.

It would be kind of horrible to pay $8,100 for an artificial "meteor" shower and on the night it's to take place, clouds roll in.

a reply to: EternalSolace

Because surely this company is too dumb to hold the operation until the sky clears up.

And surely, if need be, there is absolutely no methods whatsoever to clear skies using rockets. www.independent.co.uk...