After years of research, planning and construction at Kyoto University, the first wooden satellite will soon be sent into space.
The wooden cube has a side size of no more than ten centimetres. Researchers in particular curious How does the material hold up against the temperature and radiation of the sun?
Next week, the satellite, called LignoSat, will depart for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The cube will then be launched into space from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX rocket in September.
There, the LignoSat will first be delivered to the International Space Center, after which the astronauts will launch the cube into Earth orbit. LignoSat will be monitored there for 5 to 6 months.
but why?
If wood holds up well in space, the material could often be used to build satellites. Wood is less harmful to the environment than aluminum, and the satellite will completely burn up in the atmosphere when the device is finished. Current satellites leave aluminum particles behind.
It was not easy to find suitable wood. The researchers cooperated with a logging company to send three types of wood to the space station. Wood from a particular magnolia tree turned out to be the most suitable.
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