A satellite made of wooden materials is going to be launched in space by November of this year! The name given to this nanosatellite is WISA Woodsat which is dubbed as World’s first wooden satellite. An increase in space junk has created a huge problem and results derived from the launch of this satellite will pave the way forward for the solution of space pollution and specifically, how to get rid of space debris? A few days back we encountered a lot of hues and cries around Long March 5B Chinese rocket debris that fell into the Indian Ocean near the Maldives. These examples are enough to understand the criticality of space junk.
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Launch of World’s first wooden satellite
This first of its kind wooden satellite will be launched by European Space Agency from the Mahia Peninsula launch complex in New Zealand. The satellite will be placed in a polar Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500-600 km (source1, source2).
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Specifications and design
The dimensions of this CubeSat are going to be 4 x 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 x 10 centimeters). Its weight is will approximately be 2.2 lbs. (1 kilogram). The word WISA in its name is for a special type of coated plywood used in its surface panels.
Out of the two outfitted cameras, one camera will be attached to a metal selfie stick intended to analyze the changes in satellite payload.
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Will a wooden satellite survive in space?
To keep the wooden satellite safe from extreme space weather, a special thermal vacuum chamber will be created. This will help keep the plywood dry when in space. An additional sheet of Aluminum Oxide will also be used to cover the electronics so as to protect them against the corrosive effects of atomic oxygen in space. The covering becomes important to prevent the interaction of the gas released from wood in the space environment to eliminate the chances of erosion. To polish the wood different varnishes and lacquers will be tested.
WISA Woodsat will derive its power from nine small solar cells. An amateur radio payload will also be integrated with the satellite for the transmission of signals.
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Importance of first wooden satellite
WISA Woodsat is designed by a Finland-based company Arctic Astronautics devoted to educational space technology. The purpose of this mission is to test and study the durability and changes in the plywood panels in extreme conditions in outer space. These include very high and low-temperature cycles, ultra-vacuum, high energy radiation and atomic oxygen. The results will help in assessing the use of plywood in future space missions.
Conclusion
If successful, this world’s first wooden satellite mission will be a milestone in producing low-cost space-based devices. Also wooden material can burn easily so once the mission lifetime is over it can self-destruct itself by entering into Earth’s atmosphere. The increasing number of satellite launches including space tourism has given birth to the need for low-cost, at the same time, effective substitutes for metals. For a sustainable space, it will be great if some metal parts are reduced from use.
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