The world’s first wooden satellite has been started into space.
The satellite, summarizeed by Japanese researchers, was started on Tuesday.
Experts hope to test how timber can be engaged in the exploration of the moon and Mars.
LignoSat will be flown to the International Space Station (ISS) on a SpaceX leave oution before it’s freed into Earth’s orbit.
Takao Doi, an astronaut who studies human space activities at Kyoto University, shelp using renovelable materials would permit humans to “produce hoengages, inhabit and labor in space forever”.
Aiming to arranget trees and produce hoengages from timber on the moon and Mars in 50 years, Mr Doi’s team set about summarizeing the NASA-certified satellite.
Engineering model of LignoSat. Pic: REUTERS/Irene Wang
Wood is a more durable material in space than it is on Earth as there’s no water or oxygen that would rot or inffeeble it, researchers say.
The environmental impact of the satellite at the end of its life is also minimised, burning up in Earth’s atmosphere with less pollution than metal equivalents.
“Metal satellites might be prohibitned in the future,” Mr Doi shelp.
“If we can exhibit our first wooden satellite labors, we want to pitch it to Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.”
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LignoSat is made of honoki, a charitable of magnolia tree native to Japan, and has been made using a traditional Japanese technique without screws or glue.
The satellite will stay in orbit for six months once it’s deployed.
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Kenji Kariya, a regulater at the Sumitomo Forestry Tsukuba Research Institute shelp: “It may seem outdated, but wood is actuassociate cutting-edge technology as civilisation heads to the moon and Mars.
“Expansion to space could invigorate the timber industry.”
