Leaving no doubt that Japan is the country to beat when it comes to throwing paper airplanes out of space stations, the University of Tokyo has developed a paper airplane that can be thrown out of a space station.
The plane was designed by the Japan Folded Paper Plane Society and will be tossed from the International Space Station, where it will eventually enter Earth’s atmosphere at roughly mach 20 before slowing down to mach 7 some 50 miles up in the air.
The plane has been tested to withstand temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit) and, if successful, “technology from paper planes could be applied in the development of new transport craft.”
Japan wants to fly paper plane from International Space Station to earth [Mainichi Daily News] via Fareastgizmos