Street lights are very important. As we have progressed in technology, we must use our intellect for the betterment of society. Street lighting delivers several benefits—promoting security in urban areas, increasing the quality of life by extending the hours of activities, road safety for drivers, riders and pedestrians. In some parts of popular developing countries, residents still await for the instalments of street lights in their areas. Promoting its importance, a Chinese city has proposed a plan to create an ‘artificial moon’ that would light up the skies enough to replace the streetlights by 2020. Trip to the Moon! Elon Musk’s SpaceX Confirms a Trip Around the Moon With a Private Passenger. 

According to Asia Times, the capital city of the Sichuan province, Chengdu, will set up the moonlight in place of those conventional street lights which will brighten up the streets as far as 50 miles around. The report further added that testing the illumination satellite began years ago and the entire technology and design had been finalized. The chairman of Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute; Wu Chunfend announced the plan at an event in the city on October 10. It is speculated that the man-made moon would be the primal focus of Chengdu and that even astronomers throughout China and overseas would be able to spot the bright star at night. Eight-Day Trip in Space Will Costs You Over Three Thousand Crores Rupees, View Pics of The Luxurious Travel Facility. 

Mr Wu explained that the human-made moon could save about 240 million dollars (Rs. 1,700 crores approximately) in electricity costs every year. He said that it could also be used to brighten up the areas experiencing power outages which are caused by natural disasters like earthquakes. Notwithstanding, the economic benefits, many people criticised the idea concerning with potentially negative effects. The idea of an ‘artificial moon’ pulls inspiration from a French artist who imagined hanging a necklace made of mirrors above the earth, which could reflect sunshine through the streets of Paris all year. It is not the first time that humans have attempted to create such idea into the sky, but in the past, such plans have mostly ended in failure. But we hope, this project does not!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 18, 2018 04:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).