Fonze
01-24-2008, 01:49 PM
This is the kind of stuff you dream of as a kid. Very cool.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325009,00.html
All those grade-schoolers zinging paper airplanes at their teachers' backs may actually be on to something. In November, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will send a paper airplane soaring through space to see if it can survive the descent to Earth, the World Aeronautical Press Agency reports.
• Click here to read the full story.
Aeronautical engineers at the University of Tokyo are hoping their endeavor will lead to a new form of space flight.
The 7.8-inch plane will be treated with chemical agents to prevent it from bursting into flames. According to the report, tests performed in a wind gallery suggest it could be successful.
"With this experiment we will try to study a new model of space airplane," said professor Shinji Suzuki, the lead engineer on the experiment, reportedly inspired by the Japanese paper-folding art of origami, specifically an idea from Takuo Toda of the Japan Origami Plane Association.
The plane will launch from the international space station and is expected to reach a speed of Mach 20.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325009,00.html
All those grade-schoolers zinging paper airplanes at their teachers' backs may actually be on to something. In November, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will send a paper airplane soaring through space to see if it can survive the descent to Earth, the World Aeronautical Press Agency reports.
• Click here to read the full story.
Aeronautical engineers at the University of Tokyo are hoping their endeavor will lead to a new form of space flight.
The 7.8-inch plane will be treated with chemical agents to prevent it from bursting into flames. According to the report, tests performed in a wind gallery suggest it could be successful.
"With this experiment we will try to study a new model of space airplane," said professor Shinji Suzuki, the lead engineer on the experiment, reportedly inspired by the Japanese paper-folding art of origami, specifically an idea from Takuo Toda of the Japan Origami Plane Association.
The plane will launch from the international space station and is expected to reach a speed of Mach 20.