Jan 18, 2008 7:23 AM

Origami Space Plane

Looks like we’re having a theme week; first Minas Tirith, now origami. This time, it’s news that Japanese researchers and origami fans are getting together to develop an specially-folded paper airplane they want to launch from the International Space station, so that it will survive re-entry, and land back on Earth again. From Pink Tentacle: […]

Looks like we're having a theme week; first Minas Tirith, now origami. This time, it's news that Japanese researchers and origami fans are getting together to develop an specially-folded paper airplane they want to launch from the International Space station, so that it will survive re-entry, and land back on Earth again. From Pink Tentacle:

The researchers are scheduled to begin testing the strength and heat resistance of an 8 centimeter (3.1 in) long prototype on January 17 in an ultra-high-speed wind tunnel at the University of Tokyo’s Okashiwa campus (Chiba prefecture). In the tests, the origami glider — which is shaped like the Space Shuttle and has been treated to withstand intense heat — will be subjected to wind speeds of Mach 7, or about 8,600
kilometers (5,300 miles) per hour.

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