Paper Airplane reaches space
Saturday, 13 November 2010 10:34 | 
I can remember how paper airplanes were crafted using various folding methods in order to achieve the best flight. Mine used to have a flat nose and I made flaps angled in such a way that it would cirlce around as it descended. This meant I wouldn't have to go far to retrieve it. But these aircraft simulators were nothing compared to what a publication called the "Register" has accomplished...
After some talk was made about releasing a paper airplane from the International Space Station, the Register responded to the Japanese proposal by creating and launching thier own paper airplane; complete with onboard camera so that it could record the flight with imagery. And here's what it returned...
That's right, it made it to the edge of space! A paper airplane took this photograph. That statement is, in itself, an amazing fact, isn't it? Huh? How did they do it? Well, two men named Steve Daniels and John Oates of the Register create the wood-pulp vehicle out of stiff paper and paper straws, which created the supportive 'ribs' of the aircraft and then painted the paper 'skin' orange and silver.
Now, how did they get it so high up? Easy enough. Noone said it had to be launched with a rocket, after all, so what they did was set it aloft with a balloon filled with helium which took the craft up to around 89,500ft, or around 17 miles. The entire project cost them about $13,000.00, though, so it wasn't a quickie weekend hobby idea. But it worked!
Source: MSNBC News
Last Updated (Saturday, 13 November 2010 21:11)