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To Combat Space Pollution, Japan Plans Launch of World's First Wooden Satellite
Japanese scientists plan to launch a satellite made of magnolia wood this summer on a U.S. rocket, reports the Observer. Experiments carried out on the International Space Station showed magnolia wood was unusually stable and resistant to cracking — and "when it burns up as it re-enters the...
Experiments carried out on the International Space Station showed magnolia wood was unusually stable and resistant to cracking — and "when it burns up as it re-enters the atmosphere after completing its mission, will produce only a fine spray of Âbiodegradable ash." The LignoSat probe 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. To tackle the problem, Kyoto researchers set up a project to evaluate types of wood to determine how well they could withstand the rigours of space launch and lengthy flights in orbit round the Earth.
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