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Paper Airplane Touches Edge of Space, Glides Back
itwbennett writes "Brits Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines just became the envy of geeks the world over. The trio 'built a one-wing glider from paper, lofted it to the edge of space at 90,000 feet with a helium balloon, and posted sound and video recordings from the plane as it glided safely back to the ground,' writes blogger Kevin Fogarty. The Register newspaper sponsored the stunt and reported each step of the process. And British defense-contractor Qinetiq supplied the cameras and testing chambers, says Fogarty."
When you said "the edge of space" I thought you meant the border of the universe, so I was all WTF.
Sure, it's cool. But balloon stories are a dime a dozen right now, don't you agree?
And to be honest, it would have been more impressive if they didn't try to make it sound more impressive by using the word "space", but instead used the now neglected word "stratosphere".
Cause it wasn't even a third of the way up to the lowest common definition of the space "boundary", but a stratospheric paper plane? That's way cool!
Split the difference?
Spaceosphere!
The enemies of Democracy are
Would it be any better for you if we made a Beowulf cluster of them? So that you can enjoy your petrified Natalie Portman with hot grits?
C|N>K
Wouldn't this paper glider have encountered jet streams? How did it survive them? https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Jet_stream
I would hope that we would rather consider the meaning of the fact that the general public has an interest in reaching space again, and by doing it themselves. Sure, maybe a balloon to the upper reaches of the atmosphere is not anywhere close to launching an Atlas rocket, but I for one am glad that people are still dreaming, and experimenting!
Well, now it just depends on what you drop from that height. Think international Lawn Darts.
There's a 68.71% chance you're right.
Only if the stated goal is to deliver a screaming child ever higher into the atmosphere, with video and sound.
Bonus points if they come down in one piece.
I think that a day doesn't go by when someone sees a "Soviet Russia", "sharks with lasers", etc meme for the first time. I discovered the joy of "all your base" many years after everyone else. And all three of those, when done well, still give me a smile.
You speak of the 'Slashdot crowd' like we all joined at the same time and we're all the same age and of the same background but it's simply not true. It's not even a valid generalisation.
And the fact that someone modded something funny means that they enjoyed reading it enough to give it a mod point. And that's how this thing works. Don't be a back seat moderator. You use your mod points on whatever the hell you want and let everyone else do the same.
Now i'm not judging anyone here, but you're all idiots :p
Two six-digit accounts talking about the good ol' days of Slashdot. Precious!
The most rabid believers in American Exceptionalism are the exact same people whose policies are destroying it.
It's not even that cool. Say "paper airplane", and everyone thinks of the folded paper planes we all made so many of as a kid.
This is just a traditional model airplane with a ton of work done to substitute paper for balsa, _just_ so they could say "paper airplane" in the headlines. It's totally disingenuous.
Vulture 1 team, turn in your Geek Badges. You are Junior Marketing Assistants now.