The Space Thread

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Timber! Japan's Wooden Satellite Is Nearly Ready for Space

An experiment on board the ISS showed that wood is surprisingly durable in the extreme environment that is space.
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After examining three different types of wood on board the ISS, the team concluded that magnolia wood is the most durable kind due to its overall strength and will therefore be used to build the experimental satellite.

When you think of constructing orbiting spacecraft, hauling lumber to outer space may be the last thing that comes to mind. As the recent experiment shows, however, the wood did not crack, peel, warp or suffer any surface damage after hanging out in low Earth orbit for nearly a year.
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An interesting experiment to follow.
 
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I went looking and found this:

mainichi.jp

Japan team eyeing wooden satellite launch to test how material changes in space - The Mainichi

KYOTO -- A team of researchers in Japan aiming to launch the world's first wooden satellite that will not pollute the Earth's atmosphere upon reentry
mainichi.jp mainichi.jp

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CubeSat seems to measure 10cm x 10cm x 10cm (just under 4") but there seems to be hints of larger sizes. If the pic above is a 10cm CubeSat then the walls appear about 1/4" thick.


The test plate

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MANHATTANHENGE TODAY: Twice a year at sunset, the concrete canyons of New York City turn into an urban simulacrum of an ancient astronomical observatory. Instead of Stonehenge, New York has Manhattanhenge. Today is one of those days. On Monday, May 29th at 8:13 pm ET, the setting sun will beam directly down Manhattan's east-west streets.
 
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gizmodo.com

Scientists Successfully Transmit Space-Based Solar Power to Earth for the First Time

Caltech's recent breakthrough has moved us closer to achieving the transformative potential of space-based solar power.
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The researchers say that, in a first, MAPLE’s array of transmitters successfully beamed solar power collected in space using microwaves to a receiver on the rooftop of Gordon and Betty Moore Laboratory of Engineering on Caltech’s campus in Pasadena.

“Through the experiments we have run so far, we received confirmation that MAPLE can transmit power successfully to receivers in space,” said Space Solar Power Project co-director Ali Hajimiri in the press release. “We have also been able to program the array to direct its energy toward Earth, which we detected here at Caltech. We had, of course, tested it on Earth, but now we know that it can survive the trip to space and operate there.”
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I remember in Civilization 1(?) they had space based microwave power. It was also one of the disasters you could invoke by having the beam mis-align (it's why I just put prisons around them).
 
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“No energy transmission infrastructure will be needed on the ground to receive this power. That means we can send energy to remote regions and areas devastated by war or natural disaster.”
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I think this is the break through besides the collection array ability. I'm still curious how they do it unless it's an induction type method with a small local unit on the house. But they do state no infrastructure so I'm assuming the receiver is small and portable?
 
Zeedox said:
I think this is the break through besides the collection array ability. I'm still curious how they do it unless it's an induction type method with a small local unit on the house. But they do state no infrastructure so I'm assuming the receiver is small and portable?
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Over my head. Completely. I'm just glad they know what they're doing.
 
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