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Could a Paper Plane Thrown from the ISS Survive the Flight?
Sometimes there are profound questions in life that must be answered, like "What is the meaning of existence?", "Are we alone in the universe?" or "What happens if you throw a paper airplane from the International Space Station?" Luckily, that third one has finally been answered, because of course someone would eventually.
On the slip side, a low ballistic coefficient would mean that, once the plane entered the atmosphere it would actually have a lower terminal velocity than something like a cannonball. Their one-third model paper airplane was subjected to Mach 7 winds for 7 seconds, similar to the forces experienced during actual reentry. Mounting any such mission would require electronics and many other additions that would complicate the purity of testing a simple paper plane that a kid could have made it class.
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