The world ’s first wooden satellite has been successfully launched into outer space and go far at the International Space Station ( ISS ) . presently , it will be free into an orbit around 400 km ( 250 nautical mile ) above the Earth .
Space around our planet is getting quite full . We are a messy species , and low - terra firma orbit is patently no exception to our " we ’ll clean up subsequently " normal . One concern about the rubble is that it could induce the " Kessler Effect " ( or Kessler Syndrome ) . Simply put , the Kessler Effect is where a single result ( such as an plosion of a satellite ) in low - Earth orbit make a chain reaction , as debris destruct other objects in ambit . Should this befall , the detritus could keep collide with other objects , potentially get communication problems and leaving areas of space unprocurable to ballistic capsule .
fundamentally , it could end up like the filmGravity , but with less George Clooney doing great eyebrow work and more " Hey , what happened to my GPS ? " . At worst , some ruminate it could basically trap us here on Earth , ineffective to go forth .
To battle blank debris , space agencies around the world are working on ways tocapture space debrisand mildly nudge it into Earth ’s atmosphere to burn it up safely . But even with planned deorbits , there is alittle riskto people , creature , plant , and property down below .
One idea to tackle the blank space rubble problem is to make satellite themselves more sustainable . investigator at Kyoto University together and the logging companionship Sumitomo Forestry are attempt to do this with their satellite LignoSat , make afterthe Latin countersign for wood .
Now on the ISS , LingoSat will soon be put to the trial run as it is launched into electron orbit , where instruments on add-in will monitor how the wooden structure hold up in the rough conditions of space .
" Early 1900s aeroplane were made of wood , " Kyoto University woodland scientific discipline professor Koji Murata toldReuters . " A wooden satellite should be viable , too . "
Due to a lack of water and O in space , wood should be a raft more long-lived there . Earlier mental test , where wood sample distribution were submit to space status on the ISS for 10 months , looked promising , with small deterioration of the stuff .
But the real advantage is that they will burn up quite quickly in the air at the end of their in operation life . Unlike conventional metal artificial satellite , Sir Henry Wood entering our standard pressure does not produce pollute Al oxide particles .
" Metal satellites might be banned in the future , " astronaut Takao Doi bestow . " If we can prove our first wooden satellite deeds , we want to pitch it to Elon Musk ’s SpaceX. "
