is now on BBC prime time news at six
No way. On this day, rememberance day, the news makes it sound like PARIS is plucky Brits conquer space dambusters style.
Nice one, Reg!
Our PARIS becomes GLOBAL MEDIA SENSATION
The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) balloon mothership spaceplane project - named in homage to the socialite and inadvertent internet sensation of all our hearts - has finally won the recognition she always deserved. The plane, and our heroic Playmonaut, have made it onto the front page of the Telegraph, inside the …
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Friday 12th November 2010 01:12 GMT Anonymous Coward
Orbital heiresses
Orbit is generally very difficult and very expensive. But I'm wondering if a very small and largely useless satellite that goes "ping", much like Sputnik, is not possible on an amateur budget. A ping-pong ball with a battery and transmitter inside it and a trailing-wire antenna would only weigh a few grams.
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Friday 12th November 2010 11:40 GMT Dave 62
Skintnick
Sputnik on a budget, sounds like a plan.
El Reg should be looking for sponsorship though me thinks because "a budget" might be a big budget. I see no reason why not though. It's only like, 100 miles, that's like a 50 min. drive down the M1, traffic permitting. Maybe helium isn't suitable for that though. Should we maybe check with NASA and that lot? I don't know how low they put satellites but it might be considered rude if we sort of.. hit one.
I would like to insure Mr.Scratcher that we have no plans for invasion, that is of course unless the smoking ban has yet to hit Martian pubs.
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Friday 12th November 2010 09:59 GMT windywoo
Fake!
The shadows are all wrong and there is clear evidence that a UFO has been airbrushed out. I have contacted Walt Disney and Stanley Kubrick who were rumoured to be behind the faking of the original moon landings, and more recently have both faked their own deaths so that they could more easily fake more projects such as this.
Niether Mr. Disney nor Mr. Kubrick has got back to me yet but when they do I suspect we will see that this conspiracy goes all the way to the top, with both the ex-labour prime minister and the coalition government in on the cover up. The British space industry has been desperate for funding in these times of recession and publicity stunts such as this one will provide them with the money they need for more helium, duct tape and mobilo figures.
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Friday 12th November 2010 10:00 GMT Eddy Ito
Beauty
Chalk up Hong Kong's International Business Times and India's The Economic Times as well. It's simply a fine thing you lot have done. I can sense this turning into a global scholastic challenge. It won't be long before Carnegie Mellon is snubbing DARPA because it's devoting too much brain power to PIGS* in Space VI
*PARIS Intercontinental Global Sailer of course. Redundant? Yeah En Space, what's it to ya?
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Friday 12th November 2010 11:42 GMT Mips
Telegraph
Was a bit confused the sub-head says PARIS released at 23mile height but in the body says 17miles. Typical Telegraph. The typos may have been spell checked out but what was the editor doing.
Now here is a thing: the media reporting on the media... who report on the media... who report on the media.. who eventually disappear up their own...
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Sunday 14th November 2010 20:08 GMT Anonymous Coward
17 Miles....
Cool - I wonder how fast you can make hydrogen - in cubic meters at atmospheric pressure, from 240V @ 10A....
(thinks BIG taped together thing garbage bag balloon - and going higher than Kettinger - with a small load)
Actually the whole project is rather fab - and the paper plane, with paper straws and skin - very clever.
I'd like to use the base vented plain non elastic balloon - but a HUGE ONE... to get the lift, the altitude and the duration - as the latex ones - slightly compress the hydrogen and then tend to go pop at high altitude - either that or use a string of them, only partially inflated, to like barely lifting their own weight - so when they go up and expand in the altitude, they go WAY up and expand heaps instead of popping.
Don't understand why the release mechanism was so big, I could have done that all up in under 50 grams.
i also would have designed the plane to glide - in a self steering way, back to the launch point with an articulated glide ratio of 10%.
Rather than just open my big mouth, I think I will.
I have actually been shit green with envy and desire to do what Kettinger did - and I'd like to do what he did, more than anything else in the world.
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Tuesday 16th November 2010 01:06 GMT SteveD
just recovered found bottle opener
Well the radio Guy has recovered, I found a bottle opener eventually. For those interested I have grabbed as many news video reports as possible and put them on youtube. Hell it's my 15 mins of fame. I think the confusion about the altitude comes from my local papers' report, they asked how far the plane flew and I said 23km aprox, gave the altitude also but they got confused.
As for Amateurs launching satellites we do, although on commercial rockets. We are working on a satellite to educate school kids, on the fun of science. http://funcube.org.uk. If you want to contribute please do. (i am not part of that team)
I really want to congratulate Lester on the stunning engineering of the plane, the pictures do not show it in its full glory, or the amount of effort Lester put into it. If that does not end up in a museum with Lester's name attached there is no justice.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
