British team send paper plane into space
The US might have NASA, but here in good ol' Blighty we have three visionary but skint space enthusiasts who have just managed to send a homemade paper plane into space.
The aircraft, 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 plane managed to reach 90,000ft before the balloon exploded, freeing the plane to glide back down to earth, taking photographs as it descended.
And how much did this space program set them back? A modest £8,000.
The operation entitled PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space) was the work of space enthusiasts Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines.
42-year-old IT consultant Daniels from Devon, said the team had embarked on the project "for a laugh" and that he would "happily do it all again".
The paper plane had a famous passenger too, Paris Hilton's photograph was glued to the side of the aircraft to ensure that it's Duplex pilot wouldn't get lonely on the long trip.
The plane was launched from a 
remote spot 50 miles west of Madrid and after its balloon burst the team tracked the plane using a GPS navigation system on its flight back to Earth.It landed in woodland 100 miles from the release point more or less undamaged.
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Cubejam
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Good old Blighty!!!
- 1 year ago
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Cubejam
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richjm
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Related:
In 1960, U.S. Air Force pilot Joe Kittinger flew103,000ft (20 miles) straight up into the sky using a pressurized, high-altitude balloon. This very nearly made him the first man in space.
And then he then jumped.
Kittinger free-fell and was moving so fast he broke the sound barrier.
He had all but left the earth's atmosphere; the sky around him was pitch black; he could see the outlines of entire continents; and the haiku-like abstraction of his available reference points – earth, balloon, space – made it impossible to tell if he was really falling. Luckily, there's film.
http://current.com/entertainment/comedy/92783484_the-man-who-sky-dived-from-103-...
- 1 year ago
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richjm
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sbacker
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richjm:
What a guy! But why does his buddy give him the finger at 6:02?
- 1 year ago
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sbacker
