“Fed up with folding tiny paper cranes, a team from Japan’s Tokyo University has crafted the highest of flyers: a paper plane that will be launched from the International Space Station and then descend to earth… eventually… hopefully…”

I have to admit that other then that, I didn’t really get any useful information about this idea.  There are a number of problems with the idea, both technical, and logistical.  As the Space Shuttle zips along over the Earth, it travels at nearly Mach 20, or 15,200 miles per hour.  A paper airplane hitting the Earth’s atmosphere at that speed would burn up.  The Space Shuttle is covered in all that foam and heat resistant tiling so that it can survive and NOT burn up returning to Earth.  If the paper airplane does happen to catch fire though, here’s some good news : Most of the Earth is covered in water.  If any charred paper fragments survive, it’s more likely that they’ll land in water (lake, ocean, etc.) then they will on dry land.  So at least the burning paper fragments will be extinguished.  Even if the paper airplane manages to land on solid ground, how would it get returned to its owner?  Its a paper airplane. . . .How much room do you need to print an address, and “postage guaranteed” in every language on Earth?

I don’t mean to be cynical of the idea. . .I mean, being able to launch a simple paper airplane from space, and get it back down on Earth would be amazing.  I’d throw one from the ISS just to see how long it would survive, or if there was any way to track it.  I mean, it sounds like a very cool idea, something innovative, and fun.  I just think that there are a few hurdles that haven’t quite been overcome yet for the idea to work.

Read the full article, and see the website here :

http://inventorspot.com/articles/origami_rules_paper_airplane_set_9997