Human-made shooting stars to collect vital climate data in the mesosphere
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Tokyo-based ALE (Astro Live Experiences) has ambitious plans to not only create human-made shooting stars but to also use them to collect vital climate data in the mesosphere, a layer of Earth's atmosphere too high for balloons to study, yet too low for satellites to see at high resolution.
This is according to a press release published by the company Thursday.
"Our aim is to contribute to the sustainable development of humankind and to bring space closer to all of us, by expanding the area of human activity beyond Earth to discover, collect and apply essential data from space," explained Dr. Lena Okajima, founder and CEO of ALE.
"As a first step, I founded ALE to create the world's first human-made shooting star, to inspire wonder and to spark scientific curiosity."
"In the future, by combining critical climate research with a new form of space entertainment we believe we can further our scientific understanding of climate change while also inspiring curiosity and interest in people all over the world about space and the universe."
A first attempt in 2020
The firm made its first attempt at the effort back in 2020 but technical problems interfered. ALE pledged at the time it would launch a new meteor shower in 2023 and it seems the company has kept its word.
Its latest venture is dependent on crowdsourcing, however there is no firm release date on when the shooting stars will appear as that depends on the launch of a new satellite.
What can human-made shooting stars be used for? On its website, the company says their meteors will be available for big events. These celestial objects will be created by launching pellets made from "harmless substances" from a satellite and then letting them burn up 37 to 50 miles (60 to 80 km) above Earth's surface.
The company claims in its press statement that its vision is to establish strategic partnerships across industry and academia to leverage its technology and enable scientific climate research into atmospheric data, to establish and grow a new "space entertainment" market category and to create innovative new digital content to achieve sustainable growth in this market.
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