Nov 21, 2023 07:52 PM
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-new...180983298/
EXCERPTS: American and Japanese scientists are preparing to launch the world’s first wooden artificial satellite next summer as an environmentally friendly alternative to the aluminum ones currently circling the Earth. With the number of satellites expected to increase dramatically in the coming years—and more than 100 trillion untracked pieces of old satellites already in orbit—researchers are worried that such debris will soon cause problems for our planet and human-made structures in space.
“We are very concerned with the fact that all the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer with Kyoto University, told BBC News’ Justin Harper in 2020. “Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth.”
[...] Wooden satellites could have several advantages over the traditional metal ones. Unlike metal, wood completely burns up when re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, and it doesn’t release harmful substances or debris in the process.... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: American and Japanese scientists are preparing to launch the world’s first wooden artificial satellite next summer as an environmentally friendly alternative to the aluminum ones currently circling the Earth. With the number of satellites expected to increase dramatically in the coming years—and more than 100 trillion untracked pieces of old satellites already in orbit—researchers are worried that such debris will soon cause problems for our planet and human-made structures in space.
“We are very concerned with the fact that all the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer with Kyoto University, told BBC News’ Justin Harper in 2020. “Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth.”
[...] Wooden satellites could have several advantages over the traditional metal ones. Unlike metal, wood completely burns up when re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, and it doesn’t release harmful substances or debris in the process.... (MORE - missing details)