Paper airplanes to advance spacecrafts

No, it's not a joke. Japanese scientists are planning to launch a paper airplane from space, to learn a lot from its trip to Earth.

A durability test in a wind tunnel was passed successfully, and origami masters are now at work.

The paper plane survived a hypersonic wind tunnel with dramatic conditions, and scientist think it could survive re-entering Earth's atmosphere.

Project leader Shinji Suzuki, a professor at Tokyo University's Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said that a successful flight from space by an origami plane could have far-reaching implications for the design of re-entry vehicles or space probes.

Takuo Toda, the head of the Japan Origami Airplane Association, spent 18 months figuring out how to fold the perfect origami spacecraft. It was made from a single sheet of paper without cutting, stitching or taping it.

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