Question- Which of the following space agency will launch world’s first wooden satellite?
(a) ESA
(b) NASA
(c) ISRO
(d) CNSA
Ans. (a)
Related Facts-
- European Space Agency (ESA) will launch world’s first wooden satellite called WISA Woodsat in Earth’s orbit by the end 2021.
- The WISA Woodsat is a 4-inch (10-centimeter) square satellite that’s scheduled for a fall launch on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket in New Zealand.
- Getting to orbit is only part of the adventure. Once there, the team will monitor the little cube to see how its plywood build stands up to cold, heat, radiation and the vacuum of space.
- Woodsat is the brainchild of Jari Makinen, co-founder of CubeSat replica kit company Arctic Astronautics.
- The European Space Agency, or ESA, is providing a suite of sensors to track the satellite’s performance and will also help with pre-flight testing.
- Satellite will orbit at around 500-600 km altitude in polar Sun-synchronous orbit.
- It is a10x10x10 cm nano satellite which was built up using standardised boxes and surface panels of plywood, which is usually found in hardware store and are used to make furniture. Wood have been placed in a thermal vacuum chamber to keep dry when it is in space.
- Thin layer of aluminium oxide has been applied to it to minimise vapour coming from wood and to protect it from erosive effects of atomic oxygen. T
- The non-wooden external parts of satellite are corner aluminium rails which will be used for its deployment into space and a metal selfie stick.
By- Yogesh Pratap Singh
Reference- https://www.cnet.com/news/worlds-first-wooden-satellite-aims-to-prove-plywood-can-survive-space/.