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Space

World's First Wood-Paneled Satellite Launched Into Space (bbc.com) 38

SpaceX has launched the world's first wood-paneled satellite into space "to test the suitability of timber as a renewable building material in future exploration of destinations like the Moon and Mars," reports the BBC. From the report: Made by researchers in Japan, the tiny satellite weighing just 900g is heading for the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission. It will then be released into orbit above the Earth. Named LignoSat, after the Latin word for wood, its panels have been built from a type of magnolia tree, using a traditional technique without screws or glue. Researchers at Kyoto University who developed it hope it may be possible in the future to replace some metals used in space exploration with wood.

"Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because there's no water or oxygen that would rot or inflame it," Kyoto University forest science professor Koji Murata told Reuters news agency. "Early 1900s airplanes were made of wood," Prof Murata said. "A wooden satellite should be feasible, too." If trees could one day be planted on the Moon or Mars, wood might also provide material for colonies in space in the future, the researchers hope. Along with its wood panels, LignoSat also incorporates traditional aluminium structures and electronic components. It has sensors on board to monitor how its wood reacts to the extreme environment of space during the six months it will orbit the Earth.
You can watch the launch on YouTube.

World's First Wood-Paneled Satellite Launched Into Space

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  • Good luck in finding any trees on the Moon and Mars to chop down and make lumbar from.

    • If trees could one day be planted on the Moon or Mars,..." If horses could fly, we would not need aircraft. Aside from the difficulty of growing trees in space, it takes many years to grow a tree. I also doubt how well wood will actually last in space. I would expect loss of moisture to cause warping fairly rapidly.
      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by Type44Q ( 1233630 )

        If trees could one day be planted on the Moon or Mars...

        You're thinking far too small - this is a potentially awesome application for genetic engineering (unlike the others!):

        Who wouldn't want to live inside a 2km-tall lunar oak??

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Making lumbar
      https://www.etsy.com/listing/1... [etsy.com]

    • Re:Timber (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Mspangler ( 770054 ) on Tuesday November 05, 2024 @04:45PM (#64922147)

      If you did grow tree on the moon it would come out like bamboo. 1/6 gravity won't make for dense wood. It would be a fun experiment to try though.

      • If you did grow tree on the moon it would come out like bamboo. 1/6 gravity won't make for dense wood. It would be a fun experiment to try though.

        Some idiot savant: "Well then, what you wanna do is plant trees on Jupiter! It'll be wood that's denser than diamond with tensile strength far greater that high carbon steel! We need to send a planting mission right away!"

      • Perhaps they can devise a mechanism to push the top of the bamboo in a different direction each day to stress it while it's growing.
      • [Citation needed]

        I found some speculation [treeplantation.com] but no hard - or even soft - evidence.

    • Fool! You lack Elon's "vision".
  • by Anonymous Coward

    The 70s are back, Baby!

  • by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Tuesday November 05, 2024 @04:40PM (#64922131) Homepage Journal

    I can't wait until they use sawdust as the main fuel in a heavy-lift launch vehicle. That will address the environmental concerns of space industry better than engineered plywood.

    Honestly I wouldn't have so many problems with the article if the phrase "renewable building material" wasn't invoked. Wood is just a great material, regardless if it is renewable. In aerospace, it's the fuel and the rocket casing that are the long pole in terms of renewability and environmental responsibility. I guess I don't like the emphasis on such a minor factor like if you use aluminum and resin for your satellite versus plywood.

    • Sawdust as rocket fuel? The launch site and the whole surrounding county will smell like barbecue for a week after.
    • by rossdee ( 243626 )

      And of course today is the 5th of November - Guy Fawkes Day.

      (Probably only celebrated in Commonwealth countries.)

      • by aitikin ( 909209 )

        And of course today is the 5th of November - Guy Fawkes Day.

        (Probably only celebrated in Commonwealth countries.)

        I love the irony of the UK election happening on Independence Day and the US election happening on Guy Fawkes Day...

      • Do you remember,
        The Fifth of November?
        Gunpowder, Treason and Plot!
        I see no reason,
        Gunpowder Treason,
        Ever should be forgot!


        The late Jerry Pournelle [wikipedia.org] always recited that rhyme at the LASFS [wikipedia.org] meeting closest to November 5th.
    • Wood is just a great material, regardless if it is renewable.

      If you are launching it out of Earth orbit to another planet then it is not renewable as far as Earth is concerned regardless of what material you make it from since it will end up in another planet's gravity well.

  • I think it's also a test to see if vacuum kills termites. It probably would for one or two seasons. After that, termites would probably evolve the ability to survive in vacuum and use cosmic radiation for energy.

  • goes with the wood panelling, No?
    Would likely need a couple of couches, big square coffee table, xbox, and 46" flat screen.
    Amirite?
    • by aitikin ( 909209 )

      goes with the wood panelling, No? Would likely need a couple of couches, big square coffee table, xbox, and 46" flat screen. Amirite?

      I don't know, but I think it's got hookers. And blackjack!

  • Initially I'd think the extremes of temperature wouldn't work too well for wood.
    • Hot or cold I've never had a problem with my wood staying stiff. YMMV.

    • by erice ( 13380 )

      Initially I'd think the extremes of temperature wouldn't work too well for wood.

      On Earth the problem with hot wood is that it catches fire. That would not happen in a vacuum. I'm not aware of an issue with cold wood. Wood has a lower coefficient of expansion than aluminium so in that regard it is better.

      More significant than the durability of wood is the thermal properties. Wood conducts heat very poorly. A wood structure would be useless as a thermal radiator. Any active device in space generates heat that must be radiated away. Used selectively, it might be useful to thermally

      • Fire is not the problem. Wood subjected to constant variation in temperature tends to lose integrity. Humidity is also a problem, but that is of course not a consideration in space. This lack of durability under severe conditions is a major reason why aluminum replaced wood in aircraft construction. (Also, Sitka spruce, the preferred wood for aircraft production, has become quite rare).

      • by Ogive17 ( 691899 )

        I'm not aware of an issue with cold wood.

        Shrinkage?

    • Temperature is never the problem, it's the constant movement from fluctuations with daily humidity changes. Once the wood is completely dry and in space it really isn't expanding or contracting. There will be no moisture changes, no bugs to eat it, and no microbes to contribute to rot (or so we think).
      --
      Keep politics where it belongs
      In the Trash.
  • "early airplanes were made out of wood" .. umm, then why did we switch to metal if wood was so great?

    OK, I'm being facetious. I'm sure it's a worthy experiment that hopefully will work out.

  • Cover it in wood panels, and include a hand-cranked phonograph that plays a wax cylinder recording of some of that music the kids these days listen to. I think they call it ragtime? Sounds like the devil's music to me, but maybe the space lizards will enjoy it, and decide to cancel their invasion of Earth.
  • During the 60s, Buckminster Fuller once made the comment that it would take materials science a century to catch up with the brilliance that was the geodesic dome. The metaphor he used was that the buildings he was making at the time were like "building a satellite out of wood." Well, Bucky, do I have news of the future for you!

"Let every man teach his son, teach his daughter, that labor is honorable." -- Robert G. Ingersoll

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