The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project was a privately organised endeavour undertaken by various staff members of the British

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

web site ''

The Register ''The Register'' is a British technology news website co-founded in 1994 by Mike Magee, John Lettice and Ross Alderson. The online newspaper's masthead sublogo is "''Biting the hand that feeds IT''." Their primary focus is information te ...

'' to design, build, test, and launch a lightweight

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

vehicle, constructed mostly of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

and similar

structural material Structural engineering depends on the knowledge of materials and their properties, in order to understand how different materials resist and support loads. Common structural materials are: Iron Wrought iron Wrought iron is the simplest form ...

s, into the mid- stratosphere and recover it intact. On 28 October 2010, the aircraft was successfully launched at - 17 miles up - setting a world record for "Highest Altitude

Paper Plane A paper plane (also known as a paper airplane in American English or paper aeroplane in British English) is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made out of single folded sheet of paper or paperboard. A simple nose-heavy paper plane, thrown like ...

Launch" recognised by

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

at a location about west of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Project

Staffers at ''The Register'', inspired by the CU Spaceflight ''Nova 1'' project, formally announced their intention to initiate a project of their own on 30 July 2009. The aircraft's name was selected by a

poll Poll, polled, or polling may refer to: Figurative head counts * Poll, a formal election ** Election verification exit poll, a survey taken to verify election counts ** Polling, voting to make decisions or determine opinions ** Polling places o ...

of the readers of ''The Register''. was subsequently named ''Vulture 1'' (a reference to ''The Register'' own nickname "Vulture Central"). The use of the word "space" in the project's name refers to "

near space The mesosphere (; ) is the third layer of the atmosphere, directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. In the mesosphere, temperature decreases as altitude increases. This characteristic is used to define its limits: i ...

," not "

outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

", since it was not planned for the vehicle to ascend to an altitude above the Kármán line (the boundary of outer space, defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as above the earth's surface ); it is nevertheless a project that is closely related to the concept of

private spaceflight Private spaceflight is spaceflight or the development of spaceflight technology that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Un ...

. Lester Haines, special projects editor (" Iberian Bureau") at ''The Register'', as part of his reporting on CU Spaceflight's ''Nova 1'' mission in 2006, and at the behest o
Nova
team member Carl Morland, mused that "''El Reg'' might like to contribute something" as a payload to a future

high-altitude balloon High-altitude balloons are crewed or uncrewed balloons, usually filled with helium or hydrogen, that are released into the stratosphere, generally attaining between above sea level. In 2002, a balloon named BU60-1 reached a record altitude of . ...

project, and invited the online magazine's readership to make suggestions as to what kind of payload package should be designed and built. After languishing for a few years in

limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

, the balloon payload project was resurrected in July, 2009 and called ''PARIS'', as a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

from ''Paper Aircraft Released Into Space'' after

Paris Hilton Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conrad ...

, the payload type having been suggested by readers in 2006. The paper plane was successfully launched on 28 October 2010.

Future

'', The Register'' was working on PARIS' successor, named LOHAN (short for "Low Orbit Helium Assisted Navigator", a balloon-launched rocket-powered aircraft.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Paper vehicles Paper planes

Project

Future

See also

References