By Deutsche Welle
05 Nov 2024, 21:47 PM EST
He The world’s first wooden satellite was launched into space on a SpaceX rocket. as part of a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS), scientists from Kyoto University (Japan) reported on Tuesday (11/05/2024).
The experts They expect the wood-made object, called LignoSat, to be completely consumed when it re-enters the atmosphere. of the Earth.
In this way, the violent fall of metal particles from conventional satellites is avoided, debris that can negatively impact the environment and telecommunications.
A month on the ISS
LignoSat, which It measures only 10 centimeters on each side.was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, indicated the Center for Human Spaceology at Kyoto University.
The experimental satellite, installed in a space container prepared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, “flew safely into space,” the creators said in X.
A spokeswoman for Sumitomo Forestry, one of the creators of LignoSat, said the launch had been “successful” and that this “it will arrive soon at the ISS and will be launched into space a month later”to test its resistance and durability, he stated.
In search of normality
The satellite will send the information to researchers so they can verify the stress signals and determine if the satellite is able to withstand extreme temperature changes.
“Non-metal satellites must become commonplace,” declared Takao Doi, an astronaut and professor at Kyoto University, at a press conference months ago.
JU (afp, efe)