A group of scientists from Japan aim to launch a wooden satellite into space. You might think it’s outrageous, but it’s not.
The study team for the experiment at Kyoto University in Japan has validated the findings from a recent test aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which exposed various woods to space’s vacuum.
Indeed, the research revealed that wood is surprisingly robust even in the harsh conditions of space.
“Despite the extreme environment of outer space involving significant temperature changes and exposure to intense cosmic rays and dangerous solar particles for ten months, tests confirmed no decomposition or deformations, such as cracking, warping, peeling, or surface damage,” a recent Kyoto University press release said.
The project acted as a pilot study for the multinational collaboration LignoSat, directed by Kyoto University, which created a wooden satellite that will be launched by both the Japanese space agency (JAXA) and NASA sometime in 2024.
History of Wooden Satellite Making and Launching
In April 2020, Kyoto University and Sumitomo Forestry joined together to launch the LignoSat Space Wood Project. “Wood’s ability to withstand simulated low earth orbit – or LEO – conditions astounded us,” Koji Murata, head of the space-wood research effort, said in a 2021 press release.
“We … want to see if we can accurately estimate the effects of the harsh LEO environment on organic materials.”
A tiny panel holding three distinct wood samples was sent to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2022 to be stored on the station’s Japanese Experimental Kibo Module, where it was exposed to space for ten months.
The project’s scientists are ecstatic with the wood panel’s successful retrieval by JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and return to Earth aboard SpaceX’s CRS-26 cargo Dragon spacecraft in January 2023.
The LignoSat team decided to proceed with the project using wood from Magnolia trees out of all the examined woods because of its “relatively high workability, dimensional stability, and overall strength,” according to the statement.
In comparison to the conventional metal alloys utilized in modern builds, wood has several potential advantages if it proves to be a truly feasible choice for satellite manufacture.
One benefit is that it is generally more environmentally friendly. When it comes to a satellite’s end of life, it is far more disposable and easier, less expensive, and cleaner to produce.
Satellites and the parts that make them typically burn up mostly, if not totally, in the Earth’s atmosphere when they are deorbited.
The remaining components are deorbited in order to splash down in far-off ocean regions.
Wooden satellites would almost definitely burn up completely during atmospheric reentry, and if any tiny, imaginary pieces of wood did manage to survive the flaming drop, they would burn up quickly wherever they landed on Earth.
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