‘It could illuminate an area the size of a football stadium’: How Russia launched a giant space mirror in 1993

But the task provided encouraging results and valuable visions, so Syromiatnikov is valid with his planned follow -up experience, Znamya 2.5. This time it will have a 25 -meter mirror, which reflects the shine between five and 10 whole moons, and lights up a spot of light covering an area of ​​five miles (8 km). The intention was to control the direction of the reflected light beam so that it could target a spot on the ground for several minutes at a time when Znamya 2.5 revolves around the Earth. Two cities in North America were chosen to light the mirror Ray in the mirror during what could be a 24 -hour experience, as well as many of them in Europe.

Syromiatnikov was encouraging due to the progress of his team, and the launch was planned for the month of October 1998. “We are pioneers in this field”, ” He told the Moscow Times In July 1998. “If the experiment continues according to the plan, we suggest sending more crafts to the future space on a permanent basis.”

Return to Earth

But even before Znamya 2.5 left the Earth, Russian space officials began receiving Complaints. Astronomers were concerned that the mirror would contaminate the night sky with light, which sparkle their telescopes and hide their outlook on the stars. The Royal Astronomical Society went further to protest against the Director General of the Reesbata Space Federation on the experiment. Environmental scientists have also sparked fears that its artificial light may cause animal and plants, which disrupts wildlife cycles and nature.

Despite these concerns, there was a great global interest and excitement about the potential effects of the Znamya project. “Think about what he will mean for the future of humanity,” Conocenikov told the Moscow Times. “No more electricity bills, no more dark winter classes. This is a dangerous penetration of technology.” Thus, Znamya 2.5 was launched as planned, and with the control of the mission control from Moscow, the larger space mirror was prepared on February 5, 1999.

Initially, everything went as planned; The folded space mirror is attached to progress, which removes Mir without an obstacle. I moved smoothly to the position away from the space station, the defenses in Progress were directed to the shooting, and began to revolve to cancel the mirror of the chips. Unfortunately, at the same time, an additional order was sent to progress by mistake, and he told him about publishing the antenna he used to communicate with the maneuvers of the atmosphere. With the antenna extension, the znamya 2.5 leaves are delicious immediately thin.

I watched the mission control in Moscow in a state of panic, as footage of the interlocking mirror fell from Mir, and the heavy orders were sent to withdraw the air. But by this time, several yards of chips are already wrapped around it, and the mirror tearing in several places. Adraka that they were at risk of tearing more reflective leaves, orders were stopped. A second desperate attempt was tried to recycle the free mirror an hour, however In vain.

Crestfallen, Mission Control realized that the mirror you are tearing and Znamya 2.5 can never be separated from it, and allowed it to do so Fall on the ground It is still linked to the craft of progress. I was burned in the next day on the Pacific Ocean. “The mood here is very depressed,” Valerie Lindin, a spokesman for the fight against the mission in Moscow, told the BBC at the time.

He did not destroy his fall on Earth only znamya 2.5 the future For the perfect space mirror project in Syromiatnikov. Znamya 3 was unable to plan with a surface of 70 meters, which was supposed to be launched in 2001, to secure financing and was not built at all. Syromiatnikov, widely recognized as one of the distinguished space engineers in his generation, died in 2006, and his dreams of solar sails and unreasonable mirrors.

“The failure was especially painful due to the great interest all over the world raised by the experience. We have forgotten the old principle of Russian space programs – doing something first and only proud of it,” Lindin told the BBC in 1999.

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