JAPANESE SENDING UP A SATELLITE MADE OF WOOD

A group of researchers in Japan have built the first satellite made of wood and are getting ready to launch it later this year to test its capabilities in Earth orbit. The experimental satellite was developed by scientists at Kyoto University, and is set to launch in September on board a SpaceX rocket headed to the International Space Station. It’s a small cube made from magnolia wood, measuring 4 inches on each side and weighing just over 2 pounds. There are electronics on it, but the parts normally made from aluminum are made from wood. The experiment is to try and reduce space junk, along with the benefit of having a wooden satellite burning up entirely when reentering Earth’s atmosphere. Another advantage is that wood doesn’t block electromagnetic waves, so the satellite could house its antennas inside its wooden body rather than on the outside. If the experiment is successful, it could lead to more wooden materials being used in construction, say, on the moon.
* Yeah, good luck finding a framing crew on the freakin’ moon.
* First, they tried making an origami satellite, but all they ended up with was a lot of little paper giraffes.
* There’s 9,000 metric tons of space junk up there, so kudos to Japan for not adding another 2 pounds.
* Wooden satellites – this could be just the thing to finally get the Amish involved in the space race: “We’ havin’ a satellite raisin’ on Tuesday, ah yep.”
* It’s so lonely in space, I bet it’s not the first time the astronauts have experienced space wood.