Catching a shooting star is a rare experience, but if a Japanese start-up makes significant headway, the experience may become easier to enjoy.
Meet ALE. Founded by Lena Okajima, the company aims to deliver shooting stars on demand and create spectacular displays in the sky for a fee. According to Okajima, they will be able to provide the service they are offering via a tiny satellite. Once in space, the satellite can be programmed to eject shooting stars at certain places and times, creating the perfect backdrop for any kind of event.
The team behind ALE collaborated with engineers and scientists in various universities in Japan to create their microsatellite. Orbiting the Earth, the microsatellite will be capable of holding dozens of spheres just a few centimeters in size, which it will need to create artificial shooting stars.
What makes up each sphere is a secret, but Okajima explained that the spheres will glow brightly once released because they will be experiencing friction with the air. Each sphere will also be moving through the atmosphere at 4 to 6 miles per second. Although this sounds fast, it pales in comparison to the 50 miles per second that real shooting stars hurtle at through the atmosphere.
Once released by the satellite, the artificial shooting stars are expected to shine for some seconds before burning out. There is no need to worry where ALE's spheres will drop once launched because they will be completely burned up well before one reaches a point in the planet where damage can be caused.
Okajima said that it's possible for people to eventually grow tired of catching shooting stars because sometimes they can only see one at a time. ALE's shooting stars, on the other hand, can churn out shooting stars in one go to highlight events on the ground.
"Making the sky a screen is this project's biggest attraction as entertainment. It's a space display," she said.
So far, tests have successfully showed that the artificial shooting stars can be viewed even in light-polluted Tokyo. Shows will only have a problem when it's cloudy but Okajima said that customers can call off a display up to 100 minutes before a schedule and set up another time for viewing.
ALE's artificial shooting stars sound like a dream and they may remain that way for many as each shooting star costs a million yen or $8,000.
Photo: Ed Sweeney | Flickr
