日本研发出世界首颗木制卫星 使用后不会造成太空污染

日本科学家研发出了世界首颗木制卫星，这种卫星在完成任务重新进入大气层燃烧时，只会产生一点可生物降解的灰。

随着太空中的卫星越来越多，太空污染已经成为不可忽视的问题。为此，日本科学家研发出了世界首颗木制卫星，这种卫星在完成任务重新进入大气层燃烧时，只会产生一点可生物降解的灰。

Japanese scientists have created one of the world’s most unusual spacecraft – a tiny satellite that is made of timber.

日本科学家制造出了全世界最独特的航天器——用木材做成的微型卫星。

The LignoSat probe has been built of magnolia wood, which, in experiments carried out on the International Space Station (ISS), was found to be particularly stable and resistant to cracking. Now plans are being finalised for it to be launched on a US rocket this summer.

这枚名为LignoSat的航天探测器是用木兰木制成的，在国际空间站上开展的实验中发现，木制卫星特别稳定，也不容易开裂。现在计划今年夏天将这颗木制卫星放在美国火箭上发射出去，目前该计划还未最终敲定。

The timber satellite has been built by researchers at Kyoto University and the logging company Sumitomo Forestry in order to test the idea of using biodegradable materials such as wood to see if they can act as environmentally friendly alternatives to the metals from which all satellites are currently constructed.

这颗木制卫星是由京都大学的研究人员和伐木企业住友林业公司联手制造的，目的是测试木头这种可生物降解材料是否能够作为替代当下用来制造所有卫星的金属材料的环保选择。