Japan's artificial meteor set to debut in Hiroshima

Japanese company ALE is preparing to test this service in Hiroshima, and it is very likely that artificial meteors will be the opening act for the 2020 Olympics.

ALE founder and CEO Lena Okajima announced the artificial meteor shower experiment in the Setouchi region of Hiroshima city in 2019.

Although they look magical, the ALE meteor shower is simply a few millimeters to a few centimeters in size that enter the Earth's atmosphere, burn up, and disappear from the sky.

ALE can recreate this natural phenomenon by shooting marbles into the atmosphere. The number and pattern of flashes are calculated and controlled.

ALE's synthetic beads are designed to burn brighter.

ALE’s artificial meteors are designed to burn brighter, longer, and more colorful than natural meteors, depending on the customer’s choice. The artificial meteor shower lasts 5-10 seconds and can be seen with the naked eye within a radius of 100km.

However, ALE's artificial meteors are designed to burn brighter, longer, and more colorful than natural meteors, depending on the customer's choice. The artificial meteor shower lasts from 5 to 10 seconds and can be seen with the naked eye within a radius of 100km.

ALE will place a satellite about 60cm long into orbit. It will take months to get into position at an altitude of about 500km in the upper atmosphere, below the highest layer of the atmosphere.

Each satellite will contain about 300 - 500 marbles, capable of orbiting the Earth for 4 years. They will regularly pass over major cities at night, ready to create a meteor shower when required. In addition, this satellite is also tasked with collecting data on weather as well as the state of the atmosphere.

Hiroshima was chosen as the first test site because the city has beautiful scenery and clear, bright skies.

ALE's artificial meteor shower-generating satellite.

The project is a combination of research and entertainment, and ALE is backed by educational institutions such as Tohoku University and the University of Tokyo, not to mention financial support from businesses such as FamilyMart and JAL.

Japanese media has asked whether an artificial meteor shower will be the opening act for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Okajima has yet to give a definitive answer, but she said: "Nowadays, people just look down at their smartphone screens. I want to do something that makes them look up at the sky."

According to Khoahoc.tv