World’s first artificial meteor shower to be held over Hiroshima
Space entertainment start up ALE Co.‘s first ‘Sky Canvas’ artificial meteor shower to take place in skies above Hiroshima Prefecture in 2019.
News last year that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony may feature an ambitious artificial meteor display was greeted with much excitement. Plans are well underway and it has just been announced that the a test run of the technology will be held the year before the Olympics over the skies of Hiroshima.
The event is a collaboration between Ale and the University of Tohoku, Teikyo University, Tokyo Metropolitan University and Nihon University College of Science and Technology known as the Shooting Star Challenge.
A micro-satellite is planned to be launched in 2018 and metal balls one centimeter in diameter will be released from a height of 500 kilometers sometime the following year. As the balls burn on their way through the Earth’s atmosphere they will glow in different colors to create what is hoped to a spectacular fireworks display unlike any the world has ever seen. The timing of the display and further details are to be announced in 2019.
Sky Canvas promotional video