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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--一颗由木材制成的微型卫星。
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.
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（ISS）上开展的实验中发现，木兰木特别稳定，也不容易开裂。
Now plans are being finalized for it to be launched on a US rocket this summer.
目前，关于该卫星将于今年夏天由美国火箭发射的计划正在敲定当中。
The timber satellite has been built by researchers at Kyoto University and the logging company Sumitomo Forestry
这颗木制卫星是由日本京都大学的研究人员和日本伐木企业住友林业联手制造的，
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.
目的是测试使用木材等可生物降解材料是否能取代目前制造所有卫星的金属材料，成为一种环保选择。
"All the satellites which re-enter the Earth's atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years," Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer with Kyoto University, warned recently.
日本宇航员、京都大学航空航天工程师土井隆雄最近警告称：“所有重新进入地球大气层的卫星都会燃烧并产生氧化铝微粒，这些微粒将会在高层大气中飘浮许多年。”
"Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth."
“最终，会对地球环境造成影响。”
To tackle the problem, Kyoto researchers set up a project to evaluate types of wood to determine how well they could withstand the rigors of space launch and lengthy flights in orbit round the Earth.
为了解决这一问题，京都大学的研究人员设立了一个项目来评估各种类型的木材，以确定它们是否能很好地经受住太空发射以及绕地飞行漫长旅途中的强度。
The first tests were carried out in laboratories that recreated conditions in space, and wood samples were found to have suffered no measurable changes in mass or signs of decomposition or damage.
首批测试是在还原太空条件的实验室中进行的，研究人员发现木材样本的质量没有明显改变，也没有呈现出腐烂或损坏的迹象。
