ISS Origami: The Curious Descent of a Four-Gram Paper Plane
Researchers simulated releasing a four-gram origami paper plane from the ISS (~400 km up) to study its descent, using wind-tunnel tests to supplement the model. In the vacuum-like upper atmosphere it stays nose-first and orientation-stable for days as it spirals downward. After about four days at around 120 km altitude the descent becomes chaotic and the craft tumbles, even with a small aluminum tail. The study is not a real spaceflight but a simulation-plus-wind-tunnel investigation of how a simple paper aircraft behaves during reentry, revealing surprising stability only up to a point.
