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Journalism of Courage
The world’s first wood-panelled satellite was launched into space on November 5 to test the reliability of timber as a renewable building material for future space travel.
The tiny Japanese spacecraft named LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on November 5 aboard a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. After a month, it will be released into orbit above the Earth, where it will remain in orbit for six months.
LignoSat measures just 4 inches (10 centimeters) on each side, and weighs 900 grams.
The satellite is named after the Latin word for wood, with panels built from a type of magnolia tree, using a traditional Japanese crafts technique without screws or glue to hold it together.
“With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever,” said Takao Doi, an astronaut who has previously flown on the Space Shuttle and studies human space activities at Kyoto University.
The satellite will test the durability of wood in the extreme environment of space where temperatures fluctuate from -100 to 100 degrees Celsius every 45 minutes, even as objects traverse through sunlight and darkness. According to Deutsche Welle, the satellite will also gauge timber’s ability to reduce the impact of space radiation on semiconductors.
The Kyoto University researchers anticipate that wood may come to replace some metals used in space exploration.
The use of wood is not entirely new either. Kyoto University forest science professor Koji Murata told Reuters, “Early 1900s airplanes were made of wood. A wooden satellite should be feasible, too.” This was corroborated by Dr Simeon Baker who told the BBC that wood, specifically cork, is used on the outer shells of spacecraft to help them survive re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere.
“Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because there’s no water or oxygen that would rot or inflame it,” Murata added.
Doi’s team aims to plant trees and build timber houses on the moon and Mars in 50 years. To this end, they have developed a NASA-certified wooden satellite to prove wood is a space-grade material.
However, LignoSat is not entirely made of wood. The satellite uses traditional aluminium structures and electronic components in a wood panel casing. Its sensors will monitor how the wood reacts to the extreme space environment in the six months it will orbit the Earth.
Conventional satellites, made primarily of aluminium, tend to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of their lives and generate aluminium oxides. These gases can damage the planet’s protective ozone layer.
Add to this the concerns about the growing orbital population, including artificial mega-constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink broadband network, which currently houses 6,500 active satellites.
This is where LignoSat may have an advantage. By substituting magnolia for aluminium, the satellite wouldn’t introduce damaging pollutants into the atmosphere when it falls back to Earth.
“While some of you might think that wood in space seems a little counterintuitive, researchers hope this investigation demonstrates that a wooden satellite can be more sustainable and less polluting for the environment than conventional satellites,” Meghan Everett, the deputy chief scientist for NASA’s International Space Station program said in a press briefing a few hours before the capsule took off.
With inputs from agencies
