The man ’s first wooden satellite has been deploy to Earth orbit from the International Space Station ( ISS ) . The ISS Research X account posted footage of a triplet of CubeSats , include Japan ’s LignoSat , recently emerging from the orbital outstation into the vacuum of space .
forest you look at that ! LignoSat late deployed from@Space_Station.@JAXA_en's wooden satellite investigates how Ellen Price Wood survives in the space environment and transmits data . Findings could offer a more sustainable choice to conventional satellites.https://t.co/jD6OmunG4wpic.twitter.com/voK3DBKb5i
& mdash ; ISS Research ( @ISS_Research)December 13 , 2024
The wooden satellitearrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in other November . The LignoSat will remain in orbit for six months and help researchers to acquire about the effectiveness of wooden planet in space as scientist expect for more sustainable designs .
The orbiter was developed jointly by Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry . To build the artificial satellite , the team used hinoki — a type of magnolia Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree native to Japan — after it was found to have telling resistance against cracking , thermal stress , cosmic beam , and solar radiation . The LignoSat was retrace with 10 - centimeter - long wooden panels using traditional Nipponese techniques that do not employ screws or gum .
sensing element aboard the LignoSay = t will cumulate datum that will activate the research worker to monitor its performance and discover out how well it can handle the harsh condition of space .
Currently , when a metallic element satellite is decommissioned in humble - ground orbit , operator attempt to dispose of it by sending it into Earth ’s air , whereupon most of it burns up during a high - speed declivity . The trouble is with the part that do n’t burn up . Some pieces can reach the surface of Earth , while the resulting aluminum oxide particles terminate up foul the environment . Beside some traces of biodegradable ash , satellite made of wood will entirely decay and help to cut the amount of space junk in near - Earth field .
“ Early 1900s airplanes were made of forest , ” Kyoto University forest science prof and LignoSat team member Koji Muratatold Reuterslast calendar month . “ A wooden planet should be feasible , too . ”
Murata add that woods is more perdurable in space than on Earth because there ’s no water system or atomic number 8 to waste or inflame it . He also note its minimum environmental impact at the destruction of its life . The researchers have even said that if a means can be found to mature trees on the synodic month or Mars , wood could also become a life-sustaining construction material for colony in infinite .
