00:00World's first wooden satellite, built by scientists in Japan, headed into space Monday
00:06atop a SpaceX rocket launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
00:09It'll stay in orbit for six months, 250 miles above the Earth, in an attempt to prove
00:16wood is a space-grade material.
00:19Sensors onboard will measure how the material puts up with extreme temperatures in space,
00:23which range from minus 148 degrees to plus 212 degrees Fahrenheit every 45 minutes, as
00:31it orbits from darkness to sunlight.
00:34The LIGNOSAT is a palm-sized satellite developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo
00:40Forestry.
00:42Scientists say they'll test wood's ability to reduce the impact of space radiation on
00:46semiconductors, a useful test for applications such as building data centers.
00:52A wooden satellite burns up in the Earth's atmosphere at the end of its life, with much
00:56less pollution too compared to metal ones.
00:59The Kyoto University research team has high hopes for the test, which is one step in the
01:04longer-term dream to build timber houses on the Moon and Mars.
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