The Japan Origami Plane Association together with the University of Tokyo have plans to fly a paper airplane from the International Space Station to Earth. The group have developed and tested a prototype which has withstood temperatures of around 300 degrees, simulating the conditions expected during reentry into the atmosphere at over 24,000 km/h.

The group hope that the plane will be launched from an airlock or during a spacewalk by Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata in November this year. Although it is most likely that the plane will end up in the sea if it survives the descent, in the event that it lands on solid ground it will have a message on it in several languages saying: “This plane flew from the International Space Station. Please return the plane to Japan Origami Plane Association.”

The mission would follow a distinguished history of pointless experiments in space.

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