Out of this world: a Paper Plane in Space

A group of British space buffs is celebrating the successful launch of a paper plane into space. Amateur space enthusiasts Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines made the plane out of paper straws covered with paper.

They attached the aircraft - which has a 3ft wingspan - and a camera to a helium balloon and released it into the air on October 28. It soared an astonishing 23 miles above the ground, taking dozens of photographs, before gliding back to earth.

The men came up with the idea a year ago.

After months of planning, they put operation Paris - Paper Aircraft Released Into Space - into action, travelling to Spain to send the plane on its journey. The balloon climbed to 90,000 ft where the helium expanded to a point that caused the balloon to burst and the plane was released, gliding down to earth 100 miles from where it set off.

There was no point to the exercise, IT expert Steve Davies told Sky News Online. "We did it because we wanted to see if we could - and we could!

"We expected a few niggles and thought that the plane would come back to earth in bits but it was all in one piece.

"It's a world first, I believe. I understand the Australians are going to challenge us and we look forward to that. But we did it first!"


/Sky News/