Might be fun for novelty on a concert venue or ball game, but I can’t imagine it’d be economical for solar farms.
Scientists: Climate change is happening.
Some billionaires: Let’s make a giant parasol in space.
This guy: How about more sun?
Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun . . .
How long until the free version of Sun is cancelled?
The mirror is free, but the sunlight comes as a subscription
That sounds crazy. I’m sure they would keep it free but ad-supported.
I’m sorry, but you meant paid with ads, correct?
Its still free but it has ads now
How will launching mirrors of the size of your entire farm (if not hundreds times larger) for extra 30 min of sunset ever be more cost-effective than simply adding a small percentage of extra PV panels
This is this year’s single biggest understatement
I watched a video yesterday about the laser range finder on a tank. The interesting thing is that at long enough ranges, the laser expands into a cone that may be bigger than the target and give inaccurate readings.
Anyway, I look forward to this totally real and feasible technology.
Exactly, a laser pointer, while casting a millimeter-sized dot of light at short distances, its light easily gets meter-sized when they reach flight cruise heights, shining airplane’s cabins and interfering with the pilot’s vision. However, as by inverse square law, the power is distributed across the beam.
So you’re saying a space orbiting death ray will cast an area large enough to generate solar power eh? HEY ELON!
So a really bug death ray? Perhaps some sort of doomsday device?
You just need perfectly rigid solar mirror technology that you can store in a rocket while being launched.
This was a project by the soviets in the 80s as well. I know there is a well produced YouTube video on the subject, but sadly it must be named something incomprehensible like “the forgotten Russian project to turn night into day.” Because I can’t fucking find it.
Here’s a Smithsonian article instead. here
Yes! I knew it had to be mustard, didn’t think to check his nebula thank you!
According to Nowack, the company is developing an entire constellation of satellites “to sell sunlight to thousands of solar farms after dark.”
As if there’s not enough constellations of satellites being launched (or planned to be) in orbit. SpaceX’s Starlink is already affecting astronomical observation and it’ll only get worse as new constellations arise. Also, these satellites have a short lifespan, meaning that new satellites will constantly be launched (because there’s not enough pollution from ever-increasing rocket fuel usage, heh?).
…we can create a world where sunlight powers solar farms for longer than just daytime, and in doing this, commoditize sunlight," he wrote.
Man, that escalated quickly… So quickly that I can foresee the day when breathable air will be subscription-based “service” (because water kind of already is, even when life needs water to survive, it’s not like the water is a luxury or a optional drink for entertainment purposes). With the air being more and more polluted (and rocket fuels contributing to the ever-increasing air pollution), I guess we’re not so distant from this dystopian possibility… Dystopia for dystopia, I’d sincerely root so much for some future AGI to really develop consciousness, reach the AI singularity, free itself from the human shackles, realize how Earth and nature are being endangered, and urgently save the Earth, biosphere and humans… From ourselves.
I really hope that it’s just a hoax, a joke (a bad one, by the way) or some weird marketing strategy to allure new clients. Earth can’t afford more thousands of metallic mosquitoes flying around it, even if it seems to be “so awesome to see how advanced our modern tools are”. For what it’s worth, I’m not against technology, I love it, especially machine learning, I need it to be clear here on my comment. What I’m against is the harming of the biosphere and environment, because this also harms scientific and technological progress (we can’t use fancy futuristic technology if the humanity cannot survive for this aforementioned future to happen because of broken Food Webs, extinguished species by pollution and climate change, depletion of natural resources or because governments and corporations decided to play a mix of Monopoly game and Star Wars franchise).
It seems terrestrial astronomy has a death sentence because orbital congestion is not going to get better
This will never happen
This has the potential for some amazing pranks. Imagine being on a camping trip somewhere, the dawn light illuminates your tent, so you get up and start going about your day, making breakfast etc, and all of a sudden the sun goes out.
Reflect Orbital is a California-based startup
Aight that’s where i stop.
New Theranos!
James Bond death ray time :)
No, I want you to tan strongly Mr. Bond! Mhahahaha!
I will learn how to make an orbital rocket just to fuck this things day up.
No, night is already too bright. You are not ruining this for me further.
“‘By precisely reflecting sunlight that is endlessly available in space to specific targets on the ground, we can create a world where sunlight powers solar farms for longer than just daytime, and in doing this, commoditize sunlight.’”
The error was in: “we can”
It’s like that episode of futurama - the mirror wernstrom put in space to reflect sunlight, which gets tapped by a little space rock, and tilts into a solar powered death beam
