Author Topic: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers  (Read 7335 times)

Offline gongora

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Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« on: 05/22/2016 01:17 pm »
[Core77 May 18, 2016] Fireworks of the Future? Startup Looks to Launch Manmade Meteor Shower for Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony




Updates Nov. 22, 2017

ALE on Twitter
http://star-ale.com/en/
http://shootingstarchallenge.com/

[ALE Nov. 7, 2017]
Quote
Family Mart and Japan Airlines join the Shooting Star Challenge project as official partners.

ALE is a Japan-based space entertainment startup with a mission to promote science through entertainment. ALE creates artificial shooting stars by sending microsatellites full of shooting star pellets to space and releasing the pellets, which enter the atmosphere and burn as shooting stars visible to the naked eye.

ALE’s technology is currently in development and the first satellite is scheduled to be launched in late 2018 to 2019.  The Shooting Star Challenge is the official project name of this undertaking and will follow ALE’s journey as it completes the satellite, launches the satellite on a rocket in late 2018 to early 2019, and becomes the first company to create artificial shooting stars in the history of mankind in 2019.  This first showcase will be delivered over the sky of the Setouchi Region (including the cities of Hiroshima, Iwakuni, Takamatsu, and Matsuyama) and can be viewed by audience over an area 200 kilometers in diameter.

[SoraNews24 Nov. 17, 2017 ] World’s first artificial shooting stars gearing up for debut over Hiroshima
Quote
In the Shooting Star Challenge, a satellite will be placed in orbit about 500 kilometers (310 miles) above Australia. From there it will release pellets toward Japan which will take about 15 minutes to fall to a height of 60 kilometers (37 miles) above Setouchi and begin to burn. This part of Hiroshima was chosen as the test site for its popularity, nice scenery, and high rate of clear skies.

A single 60-centimeter (23-inch) satellite is expected to hold from 300 to 400 meteor pellets which is hoped to last until the end of the craft’s one year life in orbit. In addition to providing a pyrotechnic display like no other, the project will also gather valuable data on physics in the upper atmosphere.

http://www.sankei.com/premium/news/171118/prm1711180015-n1.html



« Last Edit: 03/26/2018 05:36 pm by gongora »

Online Hobbes-22

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #1 on: 05/22/2016 02:23 pm »
From the manufacturer's website:

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We will launch a satellite loaded with about five hundred to a thousand "source particles" that become ingredients for a shooting star. When the satellite stabilizes in orbit, we will discharge the particles using a specially designed device on board. The particles will travel about one-thirds of the way around the Earth and enter the atmosphere. It will then begin plasma emission and become a shooting star.

It only gets dangerous if the satellite malfunctions and a. changes attitude and b. starts firing source particles in the wrong direction.

Offline Archibald

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #2 on: 05/23/2016 04:08 pm »
Wow, this is... crazy, typical of the megalomania olympics have become.
Han shot first and Gwynne Shotwell !

Offline SWGlassPit

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #3 on: 05/23/2016 05:12 pm »
No, please, no, no, no.

Offline sanman

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #4 on: 05/24/2016 12:55 am »
Hmm, can't they just do a laser show - then the only ones that need to be worried about this are passing aircraft  ;)

Offline Comga

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #5 on: 05/24/2016 05:23 am »
Don't worry, SWGlassPit.  The answer is undoubtedly "no" as you wish.
There are a few errors in this article.
It says that the host satellite goes to geosynchronous orbit.  That's gibberish.  Things don't reenter from geo.  Period.
The article has an illustration of spirals of meteors.  That's gibberish, too.  All the trails will go in the same direction, if there are more than one at any time.
It says that the pellets are spit out of the host satellite. If the satellite is in a stable orbit, say 400 km, the pellets need ~72 m/sec to head to a 150 km perigee.  That should intersect the atmosphere at a reasonably controllable location.  From 500 km, they need ~100 m/sec.  That's a pretty hefty push.
These impulses have to be mechanically induced.  Little "bullets" would probably not be tolerated on a secondary payload.
Then there is the issue of getting someone to launch your pellet gun into space.  That might generate some ire and angst.


Edit: This is not the first Japanese citizen in the last few weeks to announce a plan to spend wealth accumulated in business on a quixotic space mission. 
 
Edit 2: On whose periodic table can you find "natrium"?  Is it in the same column as unobtanium?
On the other hand, we know strontium is real but no one is going to load pellets of strontium into a microsat, or a strontium bearing microsat onto a rocket, never mind spray them over Japan.  That would also raise angst.

Edit 3:  On second though, that illustration is hysterical.  A microsat geostationary over Japan's longitude, spitting pellets directly at the stadium.  Someone hasn't done their orbital mechanics homework.
Hint: If this were done with sufficient precision, the pellets would impact the back of the microsat, not the atmosphere above Tokyo.  It's a rotating coordinate system, people.  Nothing moves in a straight line.
« Last Edit: 05/24/2016 05:35 am by Comga »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline MP99

Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #6 on: 05/24/2016 06:10 am »



Edit 2: On whose periodic table can you find "natrium"?  Is it in the same column as unobtanium?

The chemical symbol for Sodium is Na because the old (Latin) name for it is Natrium.

Cheers, Martin

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


Offline gongora

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Re: Artificial meteor shower for Tokyo Olympics?
« Reply #7 on: 06/07/2016 09:48 pm »
On-Demand Shooting Stars, Coming Right Up

Quote
Ale plans to sign a contract with SpaceX in a few months, according to Okajima. The Hawthorne, California-based company declined to comment on its launch schedule or customers' contracts.
...
 Ale's satellite will weigh 50 to 60 kilograms. All told, Ale needs 1 billion yen for its first launch.

To pay for that, Okajima is seeking backers for Ale, named after her favorite style of beer. She's seeking funding from individual investors and also considering corporate sponsors.


Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #8 on: 03/26/2018 05:34 pm »
A slightly biased article by a reporter (or editor) that apparently doesn't like rich people  ::)  At least it gives a date for the first launch.

[BuzzFeed] Rich People Will Soon Be Able To Buy Fake Meteor Showers On Demand
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If everything works out, the night sky over Hiroshima, Japan, will fill with the graceful arcs of blue, green, and orange shooting stars sometime in the summer of 2019.

The fireworks will come courtesy of a satellite some 220 miles high, owned by the world’s first “aerospace entertainment” firm, Astro Live Experiences, or ALE.
...
ALE is building two small microsatellites, the first scheduled for launch from Japan in December. Each 150-pound, $3 million spacecraft will carry 300 to 400 shooting star particles and have enough propellant to last 27 months in orbit before burning up in the atmosphere.

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #9 on: 06/14/2018 03:17 am »
Instagram posts

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjb8dtvB_Bd/?taken-by=ale_starale
Epsilon rocket found at the office.
ALE selected for the Japan Aerospace Exploraption Agency (JAXA) Innovative Satellite Technology Demonstration Program.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj_J-UIhTuY/?taken-by=ale_starale
Instagram first public release!
This is the whole picture of the engineering model (EM) of ALE's first satellite "ALE-1" ! ! !
It is a prototype that passed through various initial tests to be mounted on JAXA rocket.
.

Offline Star One

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #10 on: 06/14/2018 05:57 am »
A slightly biased article by a reporter (or editor) that apparently doesn't like rich people  ::)  At least it gives a date for the first launch.

[BuzzFeed] Rich People Will Soon Be Able To Buy Fake Meteor Showers On Demand
Quote
If everything works out, the night sky over Hiroshima, Japan, will fill with the graceful arcs of blue, green, and orange shooting stars sometime in the summer of 2019.

The fireworks will come courtesy of a satellite some 220 miles high, owned by the world’s first “aerospace entertainment” firm, Astro Live Experiences, or ALE.
...
ALE is building two small microsatellites, the first scheduled for launch from Japan in December. Each 150-pound, $3 million spacecraft will carry 300 to 400 shooting star particles and have enough propellant to last 27 months in orbit before burning up in the atmosphere.

Well it does seem a purposeless waste of resources so it’s fair game for criticism in my book.

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #11 on: 09/07/2018 04:07 am »
JAXA web page for the upcoming Epsilon flight
http://www.kenkai.jaxa.jp/kakushin/kakushin01.html#ale1

Offline Comga

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #12 on: 09/07/2018 05:20 am »

Edit 2: On whose periodic table can you find "natrium"? 

The chemical symbol for Sodium is Na because the old (Latin) name for it is Natrium.

Cheers, Martin

Good point.  My google-fu is weak.
A new description says this will orbit at 220 miles, or 356 km.  That makes much more sense than geosynch.
It would still be a tall order to fire sodium pellets retrograde so that the atmospheric entry occurs within sight of a specific ground target.  It would be sensitively dependent on the variable density of the exosphere.  How would they determine that?
And the lifetime of a smallsat at that altitude is also very limited. 
Plus the orbit would have to be phased and timed so that the satellite is at the release point when the track is some offset calculated from the target.  That's significant maneuverability.  The faster they try to get there, the more fuel it takes.  The longer they take to get there to save fuel, the more things will change.
But we will see.....
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #13 on: 12/13/2018 03:07 am »
http://star-ale.com/news/309/2018/12/13/

Launch Jan. 17, 2019 on Epsilon, sounds like it has already been mounted on the payload adapter.  Deployed at 500km, and deploys a drag sail to drop down to its operational altitude under 400km?  Has three attitude sensors that must agree before releasing the pellets?
« Last Edit: 12/13/2018 03:21 am by gongora »

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #14 on: 01/11/2019 02:43 am »
An article from a mainstream news outlet that actually doesn't suck:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190102-the-plan-to-make-artificial-meteor-showers

ALE has been doing a countdown on their Twitter feed since 31 days before launch.
https://twitter.com/ALE_StarAle/status/1083548332394348544

Offline Comga

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #15 on: 01/11/2019 04:07 am »
An article from a mainstream news outlet that actually doesn't suck:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190102-the-plan-to-make-artificial-meteor-showers

No
Auntie Bebe is no better here than any of Britain’s famous tabloids. I
The material is not the big issue. (ALE once said it would be sodium, ‘naturium’.)
Orbital debris are not the issue. Anything at 350 km has a short orbital lifetime.
Those space missions are irrelevant. None glow from reentry heat.
It’s that “8 km/sec” 20 mm cannon.
Hypervelocity guns are massive machines, and fire much smaller projectiles by orders of magnitude.
And 8 km/sec relative to what?
Check my math:
The spacecraft is about a half meter across.
A gas gun, even at a rediculous 50MPa would exert ~5000N/sqcm on the pellet
Assume the pellet is 5 g/sqcm, 1kg/200. Not much for metal
That’s an acceleration is 1E6 m/sec^2
Assuming constant acceration it will cover a half meter in a millisecond
The pellet would reach 1.0 km/sec << 8km/sec
(Practicalities say it can’t get near to that velocity.)
(But it would still be a heck of a weapon.)
Maybe the 8 km/sec is relative to the earth?
The ALE satellite will be doing 7.7 km/sec
So that could be a rounding error on a meaningless number.

They could fire the pellets at an angle between nadir and anti-velocity.
The pellets would go into an elliptical orbit with a much lower perigee.
They might have a chance of entering the upper atmosphere to burn up within sight of some target.
(They have to be visible from more than 200 Sqkm.
That’s only ~16 km diameter and the pellets will burn up at over 50 km. 
They should be visible over several times 1E4 sqkm. 
That’s also the only way this has a chance. )
But if the enter steeply they will burn up in a flash.
If they enter at a shallow angle it will be difficult to impossible to control the point of the point where visible burning starts. 
But the less velocity for the gun the shallower the angle will be.
It could even “miss the Earth”. That is, not decay on the first pass, after which it’s reentry would be pretty random.

This still sounds like nonsense
Looking forward to their launch

« Last Edit: 01/11/2019 04:10 am by Comga »
What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #16 on: 10/05/2019 02:02 pm »
The Google translations of ALE press releases don't result in perfect English, but the current state seems to be:

The ALE-1 satellite (2019-003G) has been in an extended test phase, not sure how much of it is actually working, but it doesn't seem to be planned for use now.  This satellite is still in a 514x477km orbit so maybe the orbit lowering device didn't work.

The second satellite has completed construction.  Launch has been delayed to spring 2020 on a non-Japanese launcher.

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #17 on: 11/06/2019 03:49 am »
https://twitter.com/ALE_StarAle/status/1191930307332714497
Translated from Japanese by Google:
🛰 Breaking news! ALE artificial satellite No. 2 will be launched! 🛰 The launch of Unit 2 was scheduled for next spring, but it was a lot quicker! The plan to be worried about ... late this month !! In New Zealand @RocketLab It will be mounted on the rocket. The day when Unit 2 travels to space is almost here! 🚀#人工流れ星

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #18 on: 03/30/2020 05:12 pm »
ALE updates...

ALE-2 was launched December 6, 2019 on an Electron rocket.

ALE-1 deployed its drag sail on December 25, 2019 to start reducing its altitude.
http://star-ale.com/en/news/2020/02/18/000158.html

ALE, in partnership with JAXA, intends to test an electrodynamic tether orbit lowering device in 2021.
http://star-ale.com/news/2020/03/25/000159.html (in Japanese)

Offline gongora

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Re: Star ALE - Artificial meteor showers
« Reply #19 on: 04/20/2020 03:28 pm »
https://star-ale.com/news/2020/04/20/000161.html

There is a part sticking in the deployment mechanism of ALE's second satellite, so it can't release the particles to create the shooting stars.  They think it may have more friction than they expected in hard vacuum, and will use a better vacuum chamber for testing next time.  Planning to try again with third satellite with launch in 2022 and operation in 2023.

(The above is a summary of the Google translation, if any Japanese speakers want to do a better job it would be welcome.)
« Last Edit: 04/20/2020 03:29 pm by gongora »

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