British team send paper plane to the edge of space before it flies back to Earth | Mail Online

[autographedcat]

Absolutely awesome

British team send paper plane to the edge of space before it flies back to Earth | Mail Online

NASA, eat your heart out. Who needs a multi-billion-dollar spacecraft to study the Earth when you can use a paper plane?

Pictured here is the incredible British mission to send the plane 17 miles into the atmosphere to capture images of the curvature of the globe using a miniature camera.

The plane, which has a 3ft wing span and is made from paper straws covered in paper, was launched using nothing more powerful than a large helium balloon.

The craft soared to 90,000ft before the balloon exploded, freeing the plane to glide back down, taking photographs as it descended.

And the cost of Operation PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space)? A modest £8,000.

Comments

[hrrunka]

Did you catch El Reg's reporting at the time?

[autographedcat.livejournal.com]

No, I hadn't! Thanks!

[msminlr.livejournal.com]

There is a high school science teacher in Pottsville AR who is doing something similar, sending up cameras and other instrumentation on weather balloons. I've sent the story link to a mutual friend with a plea to send it on to Mr. Roberts. HIS instruments just return to earth on a parachute, though; nothing as cool as a glider.

[hrrunka]

There's a fairly comprehensive list of (mostly) amateur high altitude balloon launches on the ARHAB site, including ones from Australia and Europe as well as America.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

That is nothing short of fantastic.

[tigertoy.livejournal.com]

It strikes me as a great technical and geeky achievement rendered stupid by talk equating it to a space mission.