Russian "Mayak" Satellite; Brightest Star In The Sky

The University of Mechanical Engineering in Moscow has started a crowdsourcing project via Boomstarter for a new satellite to provide light to cities at night, and claims the satellite will appear as the brightest star in the night sky.


arstechnica.com...

m.phys.org...


I find it odd they have dubbed the satellite "Mayak" after the third worst nuclear meltdown in human history, but the energy applications of the satellite, specifically the casting light on cities during the night, is interesting.

Mayak is loosely translated in Russian to "lighthouse", and is expected to be aboard a Soyuz-2 rocket middle of this year.

Sounds pretty cool, and the first thing that popped in my mind was the Hopi Prophecy, of course. Although I did not necessarily intend to create this thread as doom porn, it would be interesting for a new "star" to appear this year.

The atmospheric breaking system for retrieval is interesting as well.

Have a good read and let me know what y'all think about the articles and possible applications!

a reply to: Boscov

Streetlights from space… no more night time, now we can work 24 hours a day.

a reply to: Boscov

Archimedies Death Ray?
Mythbusters debunked this. However I believe they managed to set a sail on fire.

This would a big leap in technology for having a break system without having rockets to bring it back home...
Also this is the first non government funded project for the Russian space agency.

Great find OP. 👍

I'll be anxiously waiting for this! 🔭

A couple of others...
science.nasa.gov...

The above burned up.

Another. Is a Japanese disco ball. Having comp issues, gimme a moment.



Here we go.

global.jaxa.jp...

I was gonna say that mayak is associated with one of the worst nuclear screw ups ever. The whole lake in that area is still deadly. I was reading about that recently and it my my blood run cold.

Which reminds me, I need a new name for my cancer patient outreach program...what do you guys think of "Chernobyl"?

originally posted by: Bigburgh
a reply to: Boscov

Archimedies Death Ray?
Mythbusters debunked this. However I believe they managed to set a sail on fire.

People should stop saying this...the Mythbusters practiced some very bad science when testing the myths. Not knocking them, they had a show to make entertaining. But their word was not the final word on any myth.

a reply to: 3danimator2014

Much agreed. ☺👍

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Boscov

Streetlights from space… no more night time, now we can work 24 hours a day.

light pollution.
I hope they can keep it on their side of the globe. I like my black skies. With all those stars.

a reply to: snowspirit
I don't think its geostationary, there will be an app for people to 'track it'. According to the link.

I like the night sky, too. Strong awe and wonder thing. Who's want to ruin that? The same people that have to light all those city lights at night.

This comes as close to pure evil as a man-made thing could be - for a group of politicians and scientists to decide for the rest of humanity that the night sky should be a thing of the past...no more words for this arrogance and stupidity.

originally posted by: snowspirit

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: Boscov

Streetlights from space… no more night time, now we can work 24 hours a day.

light pollution.
I hope they can keep it on their side of the globe. I like my black skies. With all those stars.

I agree, and would be willing to chip in an extra $500 in taxes towards blasting it out of the sky.

The last thing we need is more light pollution.

I live in an area of "dark skies" and would support such an affront being shot down.

I don't think a 16 square meter reflector will provide that much illumination. I would guess it might be about as bright as a full Venus. Although light pollution was the first thing that came to mind for me as well.

$23,000 USD is not a bad price for an experimental satellite, given its size. But, I don't think that 23 grand will keep this thing in orbit for very long either.

-dex

A problem with this is the effect it will have upon animals and plants.

Plants take in energy from the sun during daylight and the experience growth at night.

Looks more like an attempt by the Russian space agency to raise money for something else.

As it is possible that such a technology if applied plants would have trouble growing.

a reply to: DexterRiley


Understandably but taken to its natural conclusion?

When it comes down to screwing up the Earth, it's hard to beat out mankind.

a reply to: roadgravel


Sleep is very important to growth in animals and humans as well.

A device that turned night into day would probably disrupt the eco-system fundamentally.

But in truth we are far from that and this is more like an experiment to see if it could work.

In potential this could benefit the colonization of the solar system in relation to planets and moons.

Take for example the dark side of our moon and if we sent people to live their.

It would not make any difference to sleep cycles but it would make working the night shift a whole lot easier.

a reply to: Kashai

Yes, I realize that point. My post was more of a general statement about humans. Even if it is a by product of good intent.

a reply to: Boscov

The University of Mechanical Engineering in Moscow has started a crowdsourcing project via Boomstarter for a new satellite to provide light to cities at night,

You got a source for that? Look how you've gone and riled up the fine folks here at ATS with that apparent prevarication.

I skimmed both links and didn't see any indication this thing would even be brighter than the ISS.

a reply to: Kashai

I see your point. I suppose something significantly larger could be as bright as a full moon. Our ecosystem is accustomed to dealing with that much nocturnal illumination for a couple of days each month. But on a more continuous basis, it might have a detrimental effect. I don't know...

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley
Sometimes that moonlight gets annoyingly bright, especially when everythihng is covered in snow. Might be a good idea to shoot that damn thing down too.