Current:Home > MyWorld's first wooden satellite built by Japanese researchers-LoTradeCoin
World's first wooden satellite built by Japanese researchers
View Date:2024-12-23 19:36:58
Tokyo — The world's first wooden satellite has been built by Japanese researchers who said their tiny cuboid craft is scheduled to be carried into space off on a SpaceX rocket in September.
Each side of the experimental satellite developed by scientists at Kyoto University and logging company Sumitomo Forestry measures four inches.
The creators expect the wooden material will burn up completely when the device re-enters the atmosphere -- potentially providing a way to avoid the creation of metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth.
The metal particles could have a negative impact on the environment and telecommunications, the developers said as they announced the satellite's completion on Tuesday.
"Satellites that are not made of metal should become mainstream," Takao Doi, an astronaut and special professor at Kyoto University, told a press conference.
The developers plan to hand the satellite, made from magnolia wood and named LignoSat, to space agency JAXA next week.
It will be sent into space on a SpaceX rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in September, bound for the International Space Station (ISS), they said.
From there, the satellite will be released from the Japanese ISS experiment module to test its strength and durability.
"Data will be sent from the satellite to researchers who can check for signs of strain and whether the satellite can withstand huge changes in temperature," a Sumitomo Forestry spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.
Also on Tuesday, a rocket carrying a separate sophisticated satellite -- a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and JAXA -- blasted off from California on a mission to investigate the role clouds could play in the fight against climate change.
The EarthCARE satellite will orbit nearly 250 miles above Earth for three years.
- In:
- satellite
veryGood! (154)
Related
- Why Josh O'Connor Calls Sex Scenes Least Sexy Thing After Challengers With Zendaya and Mike Faist
- How Hollywood squeezed out women directors; plus, what's with the rich jerks on TV?
- Oscar nominee Michelle Yeoh shines in 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'
- How should we be 'Living'? Kurosawa and Ishiguro tackle the question, 70 years apart
- Wisconsin agency issues first round of permits for Enbridge Line 5 reroute around reservation
- U.S. prosecutors ask for 25 more years in prison for R. Kelly
- The Real Black Panthers (2021)
- 'This Is Why' it was a tough road to Paramore's new album
- Utah AD Mark Harlan rips officials following loss to BYU, claims game was 'stolen from us'
- 2023 Oscars Guide: Documentary Feature
Ranking
- The Latin Grammys are almost here for a 25th anniversary celebration
- 'Magic Mike's Last Dance': I see London, I see pants
- Beyoncé's Grammy-nominated 'Renaissance' is a thotty and ethereal work of art
- Folk veteran Iris DeMent shows us the 'World' she's been workin' on
- Crews battle 'rapid spread' conditions against Jennings Creek fire in Northeast
- Fear, Florida, and The 1619 Project
- '80 for Brady' assembles screen legends to celebrate [checks notes] Tom Brady
- 'Return to Seoul' is a funny, melancholy film that will surprise you start to finish
Recommendation
-
More human remains from Philadelphia’s 1985 MOVE bombing have been found at a museum
-
A Wife of Bath 'biography' brings a modern woman out of the Middle Ages
-
Louder Than A Riot Returns Thursday, March 16
-
Mr. Whiskers is ready for his close-up: When an artist's pet is also their muse
-
A growing and aging population is forcing Texas counties to seek state EMS funding
-
US heat wave stretches into Midwest, heading for Northeast: Latest forecast
-
An ancient fresco is among 60 treasures the U.S. is returning to Italy
-
'El Juicio' detalla el régimen de terror de la dictadura argentina 1976-'83