The University of Tokyo and the Japan folded paper plane society (origami) wants to fly a paper airlplane from the International Space Station to Earth.
A University of Tokyo research group successfully designed a special paper plane model that withstood a mach 7 high velocity stream for 10 seconds. The paper plane withstood temperatures as high as 300C without burning up.
The actual conditions call for release from the International Space Station, 400kms from the earth, at mach 20. However, after entering the earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 80kms it will slow to mach 7.
The plane will be 30-40cm long and weigh about 30 grams, 5 to 6 times the size of the plane in the experiment.
The real question, of course, is "why would we want to fly a paper plane from the ISS to Earth?"
The answer - "The technology from paper planes could be applied in the development of new transport craft."
Japan's astronaut, Koichi Wakata, will get the honors.
Chances?
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