Japanese researchers launched the world’s first wooden satellite, LignoSat, into space on Tuesday, November 5.
As per CNN, this mission is a part of an initial experiment to explore the use of wood for lunar and Mars explorations.
This satellite was developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry.
LignoSat will be sent to the international Space Station on a SpaceX mission and later released into orbit approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth.
The satellite, named after the Latin term for “wood” is designed to showcase the potential of this renewable material as humans explore the possibilities of living in space.
Takao Doi, an astronaut who studies human space activities at Kyoto University, said in a statement, "With timber, a material we can produce by ourselves, we will be able to build houses, live and work in space forever.”
Doi’s team plans a long-term strategy spanning 50 years to plant trees and build wooden houses on the Moon and Mars.
To support the plan, Doi’s team decided to build a NASA-certified wooden satellite to prove wood as a space-grade material.
The researchers also said that wooden satellites also reduce environmental impacts when it reach the end of life.
Wood is more durable in space than on Earth because of the absence of water and oxygen which prevents it from rotting or catching fire.
