The Ultimate Paper Airplane
Japan's bid to launch an origami aircraft from the space station.
- By Ichiko Fuyuno
- Air & Space magazine, May 2008
Testing a small-scale prototype of the space paper airplane in the University of Tokyo's hypersonic wind tunnel.
Shinji Suzuki
Earlier this year, when astronauts attached the first section of Japan’s Kibo research laboratory to the orbiting International Space Station, most people probably didn’t notice the small symbol painted on the module’s side—an airplane made of Japan’s traditional folded-paper origami. Shinji Suzuki did notice. The University of Tokyo aerospace engineer hopes to watch real paper airplanes “launch” from the space station next year.
The idea started with Takuo Toda, president of the Origami Paper Airplane Association in Japan, who asked Suzuki a few years ago to study the possibility of a paper airplane re-entering the atmosphere from orbit. “At first, many aerospace engineers thought it would burn out,” says Suzuki. Objects returning from space begin their atmospheric re-entry at speeds of Mach 20. By the time the shuttle drops to an altitude of 37 miles, temperatures on parts of its surface reach as high as 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit. But a much lighter paper aircraft would slow to Mach 6 earlier in its descent—at altitudes of 62 miles or so, where the air is thinner. As a result, the aerodynamic heating wouldn’t be as severe.
Suzuki knew of a method developed by a small Japanese company to coat paper with a kind of glass that would increase its heat resistance while still allowing it to be folded easily. In February, he decided to test his creations. A three-inch-long origami airplane made of specially-coated paper and folded like a space shuttle was placed in a Mach 7 airflow inside the University of Tokyo’s hypersonic wind tunnel. It withstood aerodynamic heating up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 seconds—enough to give Suzuki the confidence to move forward.
Last year Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata expressed an interest in joining the project, after he’d learned that some materials made of paper—including a flight diary and notes taken by Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon—had survived space shuttle Columbia’s violent breakup on reentering the atmosphere in 2003. Suzuki now had a means to launch his aircraft from orbit. Wakata or one of his crewmates will release about 30 eight-inch-long origami airplanes during a spacewalk planned for his STS-127 shuttle mission early next year. The Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, recently announced its support for the research, one of four projects that will receive a combined total of 30 million yen ($285,700) a year for a maximum of three years. Success could pave the way for designing lightweight space reentry vehicles, says Suzuki.
Astronauts have flown paper airplanes inside spacecraft (see the video link on this page), but have never dropped one overboard to see what happens. This won’t be the first high-altitude flight, however. “We have some true stories, and some we hope are true because they are so cool,” says Andy Chipling, author of Flying Paper Airplanes and president of the Paper Aircraft Association. He himself has “let one or two go while paragliding,” and once dropped a paper airplane from a hot air balloon 7,000 feet over Kenya. (“We started at 5,000 feet ground height, so it’s cheating, I think!”)
Then there was the time, recalls Chipling, that someone in the United States “let one go down a mountain. It was said that half an hour later, when he drove into the lower parking at the bottom of the mountain, the aircraft landed at about the same time. It sounds far-fetched, but it is not impossible, as thermals could have slowed its descent.”
For Suzuki, the biggest challenge was figuring out how to predict the landing point for a paper airplane dropped from orbit. Basically, he can’t. No one can determine with any precision where or when the origami airplanes will come down, except that they have a good chance of falling into the ocean. A bigger airplane would be more visible, but could pose a hazard to the space station or to people on the ground. Attaching an electronic transmitter would increase the airplane’s weight and make it more subject to aerodynamic pressure. Therefore, says Suzuki, “I decided to expect someone on earth to pick it up” rather than try to track its flight.
If all goes well, the paper airplanes will land on Earth a few months after they’re released. “I will write messages in several languages on the planes to ask the finder to let me know,” Suzuki says.
Comments (2)
i think that it definatly would be a very neat and educational experience!!makes one wnder what would happen would they make it through reentry or would they burn up?im intrested to find out!!!!and as for the space missions to end in 2010 i think that would suck!!lets keep exploring what will we find and what can we learn from what we explore?the universe is to massive for us to be the only ones out here!!!
Posted by tiffany harshman on June 20,2008 | 11:26 AM
That sounds like a really cool idea, and I'm sure that it could help to build spacecraft, but it seems like the glass coating on the paper could have other interesting uses. It seems like it is completely heat resistant, because otherwise the paper inside would start to decompose at those temperatures. Maybe the coating could be used for electronic devices in extreme conditions, or for preserving documents.
I'll be looking out for one of those paper airplanes! I bet someone out there will think it's a UFO or something.
Posted by Nick Johnson on June 23,2008 | 04:15 PM
Amazing idea. Instead of capsules protected by heavy heatshield returning to Earth in blazing fire while not use a flotilla of smaller paper airplanes? Kudos to JAXA scientists and wish you success!
Posted by Vu Trong Thu on June 25,2008 | 10:05 PM
After toying for about 8 years I have launched some of my paper planes on www.fighterplaneorigami.com
I have always wonder that one day, these paper planes of mine can be turned into Radio Control crafts that can be used in reconnaissance and search missions purposes (other than being just toys). I remember reading about the invention of paper battery some years ago by the Isreali. Imaging that a paper plane can be crafted with such a material and with the addition of light weight propelling & remote controls and remote video equipment attach ...
The main advantage will be lower cost and the ease and speed of making the crafts. It biggest advantage will be its light weight which translate into energy efficiency.
What if someone can discover some kind of metalic paints that can be used to spray finished an ordinary paper plane and turned it into a sturdy and weather resistant but light craft?. Better still if it can be solar powered !.
I certainly hope & wish the paper plane space test will be a great success and with it tha art of origami planes will be enganced.
Best wishes.
Posted by John Chua on July 17,2008 | 12:30 PM
This website wasn't very helpfulto me. I am doing a report and this didn't help me one bit. I do like the way it is organized though. Good and Bad job at the same time.
-Nick P.
Posted by Nick Pinderson on October 6,2008 | 11:49 PM
??This paper airplane article reminds me of an old 'Superman' black and white TV episode. In that show, Clark Kent was playing with their paper helicopters he created, and it became a running gag of that episode, with it concluding with his newspaper edtor boss Perry White asking Clark to show him how to make the paper helicopters at the end. The thing is, what if that paper toy, a paper helicopter that spins around as it gently and slowly falls, could be a valid design for an outer space atmospheric re-entry spacecraft? The point is to make something that will descend SLOWLY, so as not to incur the intense friction of air hitting it with the subseqent heat, to descend safely to Earth.
Posted by Robert Schreib on January 19,2009 | 08:41 PM
This idea has been in use for years on the shuttles. They too glide on reentry. But if we're talking about a reentry system like the Apollo command module from the 60's then this would be ideal. The astronauts would actually have some control over their descent, instead of falling like bricks.
Posted by G on March 29,2009 | 11:02 PM