Japanese experts have made an experimental satellite out of magnolia wood. Photo: Courtesy of Live Science
Tokyo: When you hear the name satellite, the image of a big shiny metal box comes to mind. But Japanese engineers have tested it in the space environment by placing electrical equipment in a square box made of a special type of wood.
An experimental satellite made from magnolia wood is actually a real and viable satellite. The project has been named ‘Lignoset’. Magnolia wood is light, strong and flexible, which is used to build houses. Its major advantage is that wooden satellites are lighter in weight than metal.
Metallic satellites continue to orbit in the event of failure and break up into even finer pieces, adding to orbital debris. Due to this space junk, future space projects may also face serious difficulties.
Japanese scientists first sent some wood samples to the International Space Station (ISS) last year and kept them in space outside the station for 290 days. Its purpose was to examine the radiation in space on wood. Then they were also tested by placing some devices experimentally in the box.
The wood has withstood the space environment, showing no signs of cracking or radiation, and it is expected that satellites made of wood will one day be able to make their way into space.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));