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The world’s first “wooden satellite” is preparing to launch this year.
WISA Woodsat, a nanosatellite that measures 4 x 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 x 10 cm) and weighs about 2.2 pounds. (1 kilogram), uses a special type of coated plywood (called WISA) for its deck boards. The wooden satellite will be launched as part of a mission, designed by Arctic Astronautics, a Finnish company that makes cube kits for students. The objective of the mission is to test the behavior and durability of these plywood sheets in the harsh conditions of space and to assess their suitability for future missions.
The satellite will be equipped with two cameras, one of which will be attached to a metal selfie stick, allowing the mission team to monitor how the satellite’s plywood surface changes in the space environment.
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“The base material for plywood is birch, and we use basically the same thing you use in a hardware store or to make furniture,” said Samuli Neiman, chief engineer at Woodsat who is also the co-founder of Arctic Astronauts. in the current situation. “The main difference is that regular plywood is too humid for aerospace uses, so we put our wood in a thermal vacuum chamber to dry it. Then we also deposit the atomic layer, adding a very thin layer of aluminum oxide.”
How can a satellite made of wood survive outer space?
Aluminum oxide, a chemical compound commonly used to encapsulate electronics, will help prevent wood from releasing any gas into the space environment, according to Niemannem. It would also protect the surface from exposure to corrosive atomic oxygen, which can be found at the fringes of Earth’s atmosphere. This form of oxygen, created when strong ultraviolet rays from the sun split natural oxygen molecules, was first discovered after it damaged the thermal blankets of NASA’s early space shuttle missions.
This atomic oxygen is likely to darken the plywood sheets. The company said in the statement that the satellite, however, must survive in the harsh environment.
In addition to paint, engineers will also test various varnishes and lacquers on sections of wood.
Aside from the two cameras, the satellite will also carry an array of pressure sensors that will monitor the pressure in the cavities on board especially in the spacecraft’s early days in orbit.
The satellite will also conduct an experiment that will test the use of a new electrically conductive 3D-printed plastic material, which could pave the way for potential future 3D printing aboard power and data cables directly in space, the European Space Agency, which helps Arctic Astronautics said in a separate statement. Satellite test.
Powered by nine small solar cells, the satellite will be fitted with an amateur radio payload allowing amateurs to transmit radio signals and images around the world.
Arctic astronauts previously flew a wooden cube on a weather balloon, which, however, did not go beyond the Kerman Line, the boundary between the atmosphere and space. The current Woodsat is a new generation of technology. It will be launched into its 300 and 370-mile (500 and 600-kilometre) polar orbits on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket in November of this year.
UPM Plywood, which manufactures plywood, and technology design firm Huld, are partners in the project.
“We anticipate a lot of possibilities in the future using the knowledge developed in this mission,” Matti Antella, HOLD’s director of space business development, said in the statement.
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