Worlds first wooden satellite developed in Japan – leaves for space
KYOTO: Japan’s researchers on Tuesday launched the world’s first wooden satellite into space, an early test of using timber in lunar and Mars exploration.
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Lignosat by Kyoto University
LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 400 km (250 miles) above the Earth.
LignoSat: Worlds first wooden satellite developed in Japan – leaves for space
Named after the Latin word for “wood,” this palm-sized LignoSat is to be revealed at a time when humankind begins its exploration of life in space and to demonstrate the cosmos capabilities of this renewable resource.
“With timber, which we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live, and work in space for all eternity,” said astronaut Takao Doi who has flown on the Space Shuttle and studies human space activities at Kyoto University.
With a 50-year plan to plant trees and build timber houses on the moon and Mars, Doi’s team decided to create a NASA-certified wooden satellite proving that wood is, after all, a space-grade material.
“Early 1900s airplanes were made of wood,” said Koji Murata, forest science professor at Kyoto University.
“A wooden satellite should be feasible, too.” Wood is more resistant in space than on Earth because there’s no water or oxygen that would rot or inflame it, Murata added.
A Wooden Satellite: Worlds first wooden satellite developed in Japan – leaves for space
A wooden satellite also minimizes the environmental impact at the end of its life, the researchers say. Decommissioned satellites must re-enter the atmosphere to avoid becoming space debris.
Woodensatellites, according to Doi, will not leave behind aluminum oxide particles in the earth as opposed to traditional metal satellites, and thus would just burn out leaving behind less pollution.
“We are trying to show to the world that it can be done. If we can prove our first wooden satellite works, we want to pitch it to Elon Musk’s SpaceX,” said Doi.
Industrial application: Worlds first wooden satellite developed in Japan – leaves for space
Scientists have concluded that honoki, the first magnolia tree found in Japan and traditionally made into sword sheath, is the best suited for space travels after conducting a 10-month experiment on board the International Space Station.
Sat is made of honoki, but through a traditional Japanese crafts technique without screws or glue.
The device will remain at orbit for six months while the electronic part onboard tracks how wood experiences the extreme environment of space since temperatures might fluctuate in as short a time as 45 minutes, from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius because it orbits either from the darkness or in the sun.
LignoSat will also measure wood’s potential to mitigate space radiation effects on semiconductors, which would be useful in data center construction, said Kenji Kariya, a manager at Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute.
“It may sound old-fashioned, but wood is actually high-tech as human civilization goes to the moon and Mars,” he said. “Expansion to space could revitalize the timber industry.”.
Worlds first wooden satellite developed in Japan – leaves for space
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