The Weather Notebook: Mirrors In Space

Mirrors In Space
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Would a good shot of sunshine help chase away the winter blues? The Russians space agency thinks so, and wants to shine some light into the long Siberian night -- reflected off a large mirror in space. Hi, I'm Dave Thurlow from the Mount Washington Observatory and this is The Weather Notebook.

An illustration of the Znamya 2.5 sail reflecting sunlight onto the Earth (SRC)
Last February, the Russian space agency attempted to unfurl such a mirror in orbit. It was 83 feet in diameter, and designed to shine a spot of light about 5 miles in diameter in a number of regions in the former Soviet Union, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Their hope was that such mirrors could illuminate sun-starved cities in the north, raising seasonally depressed spirits and spotlighting disaster areas.

But the nine-pound plastic and aluminum mirror got tangled up in its own cords and pulleys and failed to unravel, and some people couldn't have been happier. The last thing we need, say astronomers who are already at war with light pollution, is a large spotlight sweeping across the apertures of their telescopes, which might even fry their sensitive electronic sensors.

The Russians say they'd like to try again, but fortunately for stargazers, Russian economic problems probably will prevent another attempt anytime soon. And it could be worse -- there's been talk of advertisements in orbit, large corporate logos that would hang in the night sky, visible from earth. A few years ago a French artist came up with a scheme to put a necklace of bright spheres in orbit, but the European Space Agency quickly put the kibosh to that one. Maybe the Russians will get the hint.

Today's show was written by David Appell. For pictures and additional information on the Russian mirror, please visit our website at mountwashington.org. The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. Underwriting is provided by Subaru, the beauty of all wheel drive and by the National Science Foundation.