Japan to launch world’s first wooden satellite to combat space pollution
Japan to launch world’s first wooden satellite to combat space pollution
The environmentally friendly LignaSat probe – set to orbit this summer – has been created to combat harmful aluminium particles
The environmentally friendly LignaSat probe – set to orbit this summer – has been created to combat harmful aluminium particles
Japanese scientists have created one of the world’s most unusual spacecraft – a tiny satellite that is made of timber.
The LignoSat probe has been built of magnolia wood, which, in experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS), was found to be particularly stable and resistant to cracking. Now plans are being finalised for it to be launched on a US rocket this summer.
The timber satellite has been built by researchers at Kyoto University and the logging company Sumitomo Forestry in order to test the idea of using biodegradable materials such as wood to see if they can act as environmentally friendly alternatives to the metals from which all satellites are currently constructed.
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So wait I'm confused is the idea that the satellite is going to biodegrade in space? Because it wont.
From the article:
“All the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer with Kyoto University, warned recently. “Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth.”
I'm kind of baffled you wouldn't read the Article and instead jump to conclusions and assume that some of the smartest people on the Planet would overlook such a huge flaw.
I think they just expect the wood to shatter less