Who needs billions of dollars, breathtaking layers of bureaucracy and an army of scientists and engineers, when a big dose of enthusiasm, some creative imagination, a bit of cash and three friends can do the job just as well?
Three British Space fans, Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines, put their heads together to come up with a cunning plan to send an aircraft into Space, and all for the modest sum of £8000.
The operation, codenamed PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space), involved the construction of a plane with a 3ft (91.4cm) wing span made from paper straws covered in paper, equipped with small camera and GPS navigation system, and launched by means of a large helium balloon.
Climbing up to 90,000ft (27,432m) in height before the balloon exploded, the plane then glided back down to earth again, taking photographs as it descended. The launch pad was a remote spot 80km west of Madrid and the plane eventually landed again, almost undamaged, in woodland about 160km away.
Three cheers and many congratulations to the ingenuity and passion of the three budding Space explorers.
Three British Space fans, Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines, put their heads together to come up with a cunning plan to send an aircraft into Space, and all for the modest sum of £8000.
The operation, codenamed PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space), involved the construction of a plane with a 3ft (91.4cm) wing span made from paper straws covered in paper, equipped with small camera and GPS navigation system, and launched by means of a large helium balloon.
Climbing up to 90,000ft (27,432m) in height before the balloon exploded, the plane then glided back down to earth again, taking photographs as it descended. The launch pad was a remote spot 80km west of Madrid and the plane eventually landed again, almost undamaged, in woodland about 160km away.
Three cheers and many congratulations to the ingenuity and passion of the three budding Space explorers.
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