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12-28-2009, 05:09 PM
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Paper Planes From Space
 Takuo Toda Koji Sasahara, AP / December 27, 2009 Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda prepares to release a 10-centimeter-long craft during his paper airplane fly-off in attempt to break his own record of 27.9 seconds set earlier this year, at a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009. In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, a 20-second flight is exceptional, 25 or better is world class. Thirty is the stuff that dreams are made of. Toda has ever come close to breaking the 30-second barrier. On Sunday, he set a world record for a hand-launched plane made with only paper, but fell just short of the 30-second mark. However, his dreams are a bit higher: NASA, is set to approve nine origami space shuttles to conduct experimental flights from the International Space Station early next year. If approved, the Space Shuttle Discovery will carry the featherweight fleet of 29-gram origami shuttles, measuring 38 centimeters long and 22 centimeter wide. The shuttles are made from lightweight sugar cane fiber paper that has been chemically treated to resist heat and water. Developed by JAXA and the University of Tokyo and produced by Japanese precision machinery manufacturer, Castem, the special paper has already been used to construct a miniature prototype shuttle. The prototype was tested in a hypersonic wind tunnel in January. In that test, the prototype survived wind speeds of Mach 7 (8,600 kph/ 5,300 mph) and temperatures of around 200 degrees Celsius (nearly 400 degrees Fahrenheit). JAXA astronaut Dr. Koichi Wakata, who will be living aboard ISS when the origami planes arrive, will carry out the experiment from the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module. Wakata will either throw the paper planes himself or use the space station’s robotic arm. JAXA estimates it will take two days for the origami shuttles to complete the 400-kilometer journey from ISS to the planet surface.  Japan Origami Airplane Association chairman Takuo Toda, “hopes the test flights will help engineers develop new types of lightweight spacecraft in the future.” The wings of each shuttle identify the plane, and explain that it has completed a return journey from the space station, and requests the finder to contact JAXA. The message is printed in 10 different languages, including Japanese, English, Chinese, Hindi, and Arabic. 
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