Japanese scientists have created one of the most unusual spaceships in the world – a tiny satellite made of wood, reports The Guardian, citing News.ro.

The LignoSat probe was constructed from magnolia wood, which during experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS) proved to be particularly stable and resistant to cracking.

Plans are now being finalized to launch it on a US rocket this summer.

The wooden satellite was built by researchers from Kyoto University and forestry company Sumitomo Forestry to test the idea of ​​using biodegradable materials such as wood to see if they could act as an environmentally friendly alternative to the metals they currently make all satellites out of.

“All satellites that re-enter Earth’s atmosphere burn up and create tiny particles of aluminum oxide that will float in the upper atmosphere for years. They will eventually affect the Earth’s environment,” recently warned Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer from Kyoto University.

To solve this problem, Kyoto researchers created a project to evaluate wood species to determine how well they can withstand the harsh conditions of space launches and long flights in orbit around the Earth.

Several types of wood were tested

The first tests were carried out in laboratories that replicated the conditions in space, and it was found that the wooden samples did not undergo noticeable changes in mass or signs of decay or damage.

“We were impressed by the wood’s ability to withstand these conditions,” said Koji Murata, project leader.

After these tests, the samples were sent to the ISS, where they underwent radiation tests for almost a year before returning to Earth.

Again, they showed little sign of deterioration, a phenomenon Murata attributed to the fact that there was no oxygen in space to cause the wood to burn, and no living things to cause it to rot.

Several types of wood were tested, including Japanese cherry, with magnolia wood being the strongest.

It is now being used to build the wooden Kyoto satellite, which will house a series of experiments that will determine how well the spacecraft performs in orbit, Murata said.

“One of the satellite’s missions is to measure the deformation of a wooden structure in space. The tree is strong and stable in one direction, but may be prone to change in size and cracking in another,” he told the “Observer”.

Murata added that a final decision on the launch vehicle has yet to be made, and the options are now narrowed down to a flight this summer on a Cygnus Orbital Sciences resupply ship to the ISS or a similar SpaceX Dragon mission later this year. course of the year

The probe, about the size of a coffee cup, is expected to operate in space for at least six months before being allowed to enter the upper atmosphere.

Ozone layer, affected

If LignoSat performs well while in orbit, it could open the door to using wood as a building material for more satellites.

More than 2,000 spacecraft are expected to launch each year in the coming years, and the aluminum they can deposit in the upper atmosphere as they burn up during space entry could soon pose serious environmental problems.

Recent research by scientists at the University of British Columbia, Canada, has shown that aluminum from a satellite reentering the Earth’s atmosphere can cause serious depletion of the ozone layer, which protects the Earth from the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, and can also affect the amount of sunlight that passes through atmosphere and reaches the ground.

However, this should not be a problem for satellites built from wood, such as LignoSat, which when they burn up during re-entry after completing their mission, will only produce a fine spray of biodegradable ash. (News.ro)

LingoSat will not be the first project to create a wooden satellite

Finnish startup Arctic Astronautics has developed a wooden satellite WISA Woodsat, which was supposed to be launched into space in 2021. However, company founder Jari Myakinen says the launch has been delayed due to bureaucratic hurdles.

“The satellite is ready and waiting to be reassembled when the time comes,” Myakinen told CNN in an email, adding that once the company receives a space operations license, the satellite will be launched by private operator RocketLab.

At Khalifa University in the United Arab Emirates, aerospace engineer Yarjan Abdul Samad is looking at graphene, a compound of carbon, as a potential material for space objects. Samad is researching “nano-wood” – low-density wood combined with graphene to increase strength.

People have been putting satellites into orbit since the 1950s, and in the last decade, as commercial launches have become more affordable, the number of satellites launched has increased dramatically.