A team of researchers from Japan have used traditional wood crafting techniques to create the world's first wooden satellite. The small, wooden cube will be launched to the International Space Station in early November for observation.
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00:00The small cube of wood, cut, carved and assembled, will soon orbit Earth, as the world's first
00:09wooden satellite.
00:11Japanese researchers hope it will change the way humans approach space development.
00:15Until now, no country had planned to develop space.
00:23I want the world to know that using wood in space is the only way for humanity to develop
00:32into a sustainable and eternal universe.
00:39Low Earth orbit is getting crowded.
00:42Scientists estimate there are more than 30,000 pieces of junk hurtling around the planet,
00:47adding to the more than 9,000 satellites currently in orbit.
00:52Once these satellites exceed their usefulness, they either add to the amount of space junk,
00:56or they re-enter the atmosphere and burn up, releasing harmful chemicals, which could eventually
01:03change the planet's thermal balance.
01:06The satellite we are currently using is made of aluminum, so if we re-enter the atmosphere,
01:14it will create aluminum particles and pollute the atmosphere.
01:19Researchers hope crafting satellites out of renewable materials, like wood, can alleviate
01:25the amount of space pollution, and in the long term, lead to timber houses on the Moon and Mars.
01:32But first, scientists have to test that wood can survive in space.
01:36To build the Cube satellite, they looked inward for inspiration, drawing from traditional
01:41techniques used in Japan for centuries.
01:44We used a type of magnolia tree.
01:50Traditionally, we used a type of wood that is easy to process and hard to decompose,
01:57so we used Japanese sheaths, which are strong, and we used the leaves of the leaves.
02:08The small Cube will make its first mission to the International Space Station in early
02:12November, and will stay in orbit for six months.
02:16Scientists hope this will give them the first glimpse into the durability of wood in space,
02:21and lead to a new level of cosmic potential.
02:24Andy Hsueh and Harrell Hughes for Taiwan Plus.