Readout Noise
"No matter where you are in the world, or what is happening in your life, everyone will be able to see the Humanity Star in the night sky," says Beck. "We must come together as a species to solve the really big issues like climate change and resource shortages."
This unwanted light-bomb is vandalism and hypocracy! It is undermining the efforts of real environmentalists (e.g. www.darksky.org) to preserve the darkness of the night sky.
Brian M
@Readout noise 100% with you - nothing more than space vandalism to satisfy someone's own feeling of self importance.
Ianspeed
@Readout Noise Totally agree with you.
" And if you look to the sky my daughter you'll see a message for humanity", "yes mum, but when can I have something to eat, it's been days...and we haven't had fresh water for weeks"...Planet wasteful strikes again.
Kpar
Sorry, folks, I happen to disagree. The article states that this satellite's orbit will degrade over time and burn up upon re-entry- a self-correcting problem.
Furthermore, the loss of clear (read: dark) night skies in virtually EVERY developed country means that fewer and fewer people bother to look up anymore- we are further and further disconnected from the universe.
Kudos to this team- giving folks a reason to look to the sky, and, incidentally, providing a "teaching moment" about orbital mechanics.
c2cam
@Readout Noise, @Brian M, @Ianspeed - Really?
You don't see the potential that for one brief moment people across the planet can look up and see this little shining light and not help but feel connected with fellow earthlings doing the same thing? One way for the globe to look up for once instead of buried in their smart phones. To look up and see the awe that is the universe?
Light pollution from this little guy....meh, it's designed to burn up in 9 months. Move on.
Ruppert
Sorry but Argentina space program started in the 1950s and has been launching commercial and N.A.S.A. satellites even today. New Zealand, it was not the first commercial space mission to lift off in the Southern Hemisphere.
Dr-Zin
Shot it down NOW. Now all the bad aliens will know where we are and invade us.
Dr-Zin
Opps, I meant "shoot" not shot.....smh
Bruce H. Anderson
Selfies in Spa-a-a-a-ace. More like a Kardashian Star, or Paris Hilton Star. Neither is a star BTW.
Meryl
" We must come together as a species to solve the really big issues". The cascade effect of de-orbiting space trash( such as this half-baked idea) colliding with important stuff and setting off a chain reaction of damage seems like an issue to me. Mr Beck might not think this was one of his better ideas when his mobile phone ceases to work and his sat nav fails because his space junk knocked out a real satellite or two.