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.

    • learningduck@programming.devEnglish
      0·
      9 months ago

      Quoting 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.

      • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 months ago

        Yes, political theater. The damage such a geologically small amount of aluminum that it does not amount to the prevention of that much damage as compared to the bodies of every other aluminum aircraft, decommissioned station and satellite that touches air.

        It’s a nice thought, but a drop in the bucket. It’s got spirit and a touch of humanity in the honoring of the Japanese culture’s world renown woodworking traditions, but it is foolish to pretend it is saving an ozone layer that has already been saved.