That’s no moon,
it’s a Chinese satellite.
Hi, welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m your host Chris Chappell.
Romantic moonlit walks are about to become a lot more common,
at least in one part of China.
Because the city of Chengdu
plans to launch an artificial moon—
to light up the night sky.
Yes, this is no joke.
Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province,
which is of course most famous for having
all those stupid pandas that no one likes.
And Chengdu plans to launch a fake moon
into the night sky by the year 2020.
Wow, only two years away.
And it was reported in China’s official state-run media,
so you know it’s true.
According to Wu Chunfeng,
chairman of Chengdu Aerospace Science
and Technology Microelectronics System
Research Institute Co., Ltd.,whew—
according to that guy,
“the brightness of the ‘artificial moon’
is eight times that of the real moon,
and will be bright enough to replace street lights.”
Because street lamps are really so inefficient.
Much easier to launch a fake moon into space.
But, Wu says it could save Chengdu about 240 million dollars
in electricity costs every year.
He says the artificial moon will be 300 miles above the Earth.
It will be able to focus light on an area between 6 and 50 miles wide.
I know, that seems like kind of a big range.
The concept is,
it could be programmed to focus its beam more widely or narrowly,
depending, I guess, on which neighborhoods
pay their moon bill on time.
Now Wu’s artificial moon is actually a satellite
that will complement the Earth’s natural moon.
Here’s another scientist talking about the Wu’s innovation.
“Who else but him would have thought of creating
an energy source that perfectly imitates full moon light?”
Wow, science is exciting.
Wu said the testing for the new moon
has been going on for years,
but it's finally matured.
That’s horrifying.
But this isn’t entirely a new idea.
Russia triedto do a similar thing
with orbital mirrors almost 20 years ago.
But they couldn’t get it to work.
A Norwegian town is successfully redirecting sunlight,
but the mirrors aren’t in space.
Just on a tall mountain.
Of course, Chengdu’s artificial moon
is raising some questions.
For instance, who’s going to pay for it?
It’s unclear whether funding
is coming from Chengdu’s local government,
or the central government,
or possibly from a tax on pandas,
which I think is only fair.
However, the company making it is also the main contractor
for the Chinese space program.
And China’s space program is run by the military.
So there are some concerns.
First of all, what will an object 8 times brighter
than the full moon do to animals
that rely on the natural moon cycle to live?
We already know that one full moon can make
at least three wolves howl in the night.
With 8 times the brightness,
this T-shirt’s going to get a lot more crowded.
That’s actually a point People’s Daily brought up.
The point about affecting animals,
not the T-shirt design.
But, don’t worry, says one Chinese expert.
Even though the fake moon will be
8 times brighter than the real moon,
it will only have a dusk-like glow,
so it won’t affect animals’ routines.
Wait, which is it, Chengdu?
Will your fake moon be 8 times brighter
than the regular moon?
Or will it just emit a dusk-like glow?
Other Chinese officials say it will be powerful enough
to illuminate construction sites and disaster areas,
or be turned to catch sunlight instead of moonlight
and make the day longer.
So it’s a fake moon that’s 8 times brighter than the moon,
but only gives off a dusk-like glow,
except when it can be used to create eternal daylight.
And while I love the potential that has
as a weapon to fight vampires,
I’m also concerned.
Remember, it’s a satellite being built by an agency
closely tied to the Chinese military.
And the Chinese military has been making
a lot of strides at satellite warfare.
What if Chinese Communist Party could use
the fake moon satellite to focus light from the sun
and fry dissidents like a kid
with a magnifying glass does to ants?
Now that would create some real social stability.
In any case, I’m sure the pandas won’t even notice.
They already sleep most of the day, those lazy bums.
So what do you think of China’s plan for a fake moon?
Leave your comments below.
And before we go,
now is the time when I answer questions
from fanswho support China Uncensored
on the crowdfunding website Patreon!
Jonathan Swanberg asks,
“I was wondering,
how difficult is it to become a journalist in China
and maintain your freedom?
I keep on seeing journalists being denied visas
and having their credentials revoked
but is it as difficult as it seems?
It’s probably more difficult than it seems.
For Western journalists,
their movement in China can be restricted.
They can be harassed or even roughed up
by police when they try to cover sensitive topics.
And over the years, many Western journalists
have lost their media visas following critical reporting.
Most recently, my friend Megha Rajagopalan (
was denied her visa renewal after her illuminating reports
on the persecution of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Chinese people who work as journalists
and news assistants for foreign media
have also been harassed and imprisoned.
They have even less protection since they’re Chinese citizens.
And it’s worse for independent Chinese journalists.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,
China is consistently one of the worst
jailers of journalists in the world.
As for Chinese journalists who work for state-run media,
I think the former president of state-run media CCTV
put it best when he said,
“Journalists who think of themselves as professionals,
instead of as propaganda workers,
are making a fundamental mistake about identity."
By the way, I don’t report out of Beijing.
And yes, I do still get asked if I’m based in Beijing.
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Thanks for watching this episode of China Uncensored.
Once again I’m your host Chris Chappell.
See you next time.
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