Where No Plywood Has Gone Before: A Space Agency Will Launch a Tiny, Wooden Satellite

[SummerMadness]

Where No Plywood Has Gone Before: A Space Agency Will Launch a Tiny, Wooden Satellite

Earth-orbiting satellites usually end their lives in a fiery reentry — but a tiny CubeSat scheduled for launch by the European Space Agency later this year might put off a warmer glow than most in its final moments.

That's because WISA-Woodsat is made mostly out of plywood.

It's not such a crazy idea: Since it became widely available about a century ago, plywood has been prized for its strength, rigidity and durability — three things that are good in a spacecraft.

Believe it or not, plywood for small satellites "could be a great low-cost alternative to traditional materials and is absolutely feasible with the right testing and modifications," Michelle Johnson, an associate fellow in materials and process engineering at Lockheed Martin Space, tells NPR.

Modern spacecraft are often made out of carbon fiber composites "which is essentially an engineered improvement on nature's original composite, i.e. wood," she explains.

"Wood is an amazing structural material — it does very well in comparison to other materials in terms of strength-to-weight ratios," he tells NPR.

Because of the grain and the way trees grow, wood can be weaker in some dimensions than others, Banerjee notes, although plywood is specifically designed to minimize that. It's also difficult to shape without losing strength and it doesn't easily dissipate energy from impacts.

And then there's the space environment itself. Satellites in orbit "inevitably suffer radiation damage — which in the case of wood can considerably degrade mechanical strength," he says.

Woodsat, which the ESA says will launch from New Zealand by the end of the year, is being billed as the first wooden satellite. But it might not be the first spacecraft made partly of wood — nor the last.

 

[public hermit]

Poor Florida. If this works, the Plywood State is going to lose the uniqueness of one of its many detracting descriptors. Such notoriety is not easy to come by.

 

[Crwth]

I saw some in Home Depot the other day. $14,500 / sheet - "space grade."

Unfortunately, there's a limit of 2 per person; plus, you have to prove you're vaccinated before they'll let you buy any.

 

[Crwth]

(It is kinda interesting though, plywood in space)

 

[public hermit]

It's made "partly of wood." I'm thinking the whole thing has to be covered in something not-wood.