TB9GB8G - WISA WOODSAT - the first wooden satellite in the world

[+Voutar]

Greetings from the WISA Woodsat HQ!

 

After the announcement of WISA Woodsat satellite trackable (TB9GB8G) mid August, we have over 6200 people on the watch list! That also means that I have received a fair amount of messages regarding the satellite itself, the procedure of logging it, launch schedule and many others. Unfortunately I am not able to answer them one by one, so, let's talk satellites in this discussion thread. 

 

The most common question is, how you can log the satellite trackable. I have added the instructions to the trackable page https://coord.info/TB9GB8G. The thing to note is that you can only do that AFTER the satellite has been launched. The trackable code is only visibile in the photos taken by the satellite itself with its selfie-camera. 

 

You can follow WISA Woodsat project progress on https://wisawoodsat.space. We have blogs and videos showing how the satellite materials are made, how they are machined, and tested. You can also find WISA Woodsat on Instagram and Twitter with the handles @wisawoodsat and #wisawoodsat. 

 

Anything else you would like to know about the satellite?

 

 

[+MissJenn]

2021 is an exciting year: we've already had 1 trackable item go into space,  and now there is this opportunity for a second trackable item go into space in the same year.

 

Here is the  blog post from August 7:

 geocaching.com/blog/2021/08/tracking-the-worlds-first-wooden-satellite

 

 

[Darwin473]

This may already have been answered on your page, but I'll ask it here anyway:

 

How long do you expect WISA to last? I know NASA's Opportunity rover was only meant to last about three months but ended up functioning for several years.

[+Max and 99]

Yes, we are excited.

 

 

[+Voutar]

8 hours ago, Unit473L said:

This may already have been answered on your page, but I'll ask it here anyway:

 

How long do you expect WISA to last? I know NASA's Opportunity rover was only meant to last about three months but ended up functioning for several years.

 

The planned service life of WISA Woodsat is approximately 2 years but if all goes well, it might be significantly longer. The time on orbit is estimated to be  7-10 years.  During that time the velocity will slow down so much that gravity will start pulling the satellite from the orbit. As WISA Woodsat is small and made of wood instead of e.g. aluminum, it will turn into gas (it  will not burn due to the lack of oxygen).

[+thebruce0]

It really is a fascinating project, and it's exciting to see it moving forward. Looking forward to what it returns to us, and hopefully the tracking code will remain reliably secret until the intended reveal with its returned photos

[Darwin473]

14 hours ago, Voutar said:

...it will turn into gas (it  will not burn due to the lack of oxygen)

 

Wow, I did not know that! I just assumed everything burned up when it hit atmosphere due to friction. I guess that's one way to go - stripped down to component molecules (a gross over-simplification, I don't know all the science involved). Thanks!

[+Harry Dolphin]

2 hours ago, Unit473L said:

 

Wow, I did not know that! I just assumed everything burned up when it hit atmosphere due to friction. I guess that's one way to go - stripped down to component molecules (a gross over-simplification, I don't know all the science involved). Thanks!

 

But, that woud destroy the trackable!

[+Max and 99]

I can't wrap my head around the size of that satellite!

[Darwin473]

23 hours ago, Harry Dolphin said:

But, that woud destroy the trackable!

 

Trackables are never truly destroyed, they just go on different adventures. Maybe in a few years it'll show up in orbit around another planet? 

[+thebruce0]

The spirit of the travelbug lives on by its namesake! <3

As long as someone's there to keep giving it some love

[+MissJenn]

[+Highcountryhikers]

The technology nowadays is truly AMAZING!! We'll be watching.

[+South Lyon Trekkers]

As far as I can tell, this satellite has yet to launch. Is there any update to this project?

[+Max and 99]

I asked HQ for an update many months ago and never heard back. I have periodically checked for any news about the launch and have not come across anything. 

[+South Lyon Trekkers]

An update was posted two days ago.  Cool beans. Unknown timeline, but still happening.

[+South Lyon Trekkers]

Thought I'd follow up since it had been a year. Any update? 

[+Team D.A.R.K.]

There are a few sites that indicate this hasn't launched yet. 

 

https://www.nanosats.eu/sat/wisa-woodsat - shows that it is planned for sometime in 2024, but nothing more than that.

 

https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/wisa-woodsat.htm - still no launch, but a 2024 timeline.

[+South Lyon Trekkers]

Yeah. I have hunted around and did come across that. I don't trust it all that much since it has been pushed back for years. Hopefully 2024 is the year.

[fendmar]

This story reminded me of this, but I don't think it's the same thing.

 

World's 1st wooden satellite arrives at ISS for key orbital test | Space

[+South Lyon Trekkers]

I was reading an article on that today. I guess it's not the world's first wooden satellite any more.