Saturday, 18 November 2023 | 17:46 WIB
Herman / HE
Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – NASA together with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2024 plan to send the world’s first wooden satellite into space as part of efforts to make space flights more sustainable.
Reporting from Live Science, Saturday (18/11/2023), a satellite called LignoSat, which is as small as a coffee cup, is made from magnolia wood. The advantage of wood as a satellite construction material lies in its resistance to combustion and rot in a vacuum.
After successfully testing three wooden specimens aboard the International Space Station earlier this year, scientists are confident that this test satellite is fit for launch. To select the wood to be used, three wood samples, namely magnolia, cherry, or birch, were sent to the international space station and stored in a module exposed to space.
The final choice fell on magnolia because it is less likely to break or crack during the manufacturing process.
There are currently more than 9,300 tons of space objects, including trash such as inoperative satellites and spent rockets. The shiny metal used in these objects increases the overall brightness of the night sky by more than 10%, creating light pollution that makes extraterrestrial phenomena difficult to detect.
In addition, spacecraft made of metal tend to be expensive and pose a threat to other spacecraft, so wooden satellites such as LignoSat are expected to be a safer and environmentally friendly alternative.
2023-11-18 10:46:14
#NASA #JAXA #Launch #Worlds #Wooden #Satellite
