By By Kev Hedges Nov 11, 2010 in Science Madrid - It took three men over a year to build a paper plane - with a 3ft-wingspan, made of paper straws and covered in paper. They attached a helium balloon and launched it from Madrid, Spain. The project, named PARIS, an acronym for Paper Aircraft Released Into Space, was the idea of Steve Daniels, from Devon, John Oates, of The Register website, and Lester Haines. They embarked on the project in order to "invigorate the British space race". The plane, named Vulture 1, and two cameras on the balloon were retrieved virtually intact, just a small hole in the wing, about 20 miles from the launch site, 100 miles west of Madrid in Spain. Its tracking devices, release mechanism and camera systems were all produced with the help of advice from readers of technology website Several videos samples from PARIS' YouTube site can be viewed The result was a small paper plane reaching the stratospheric height of 90,000 feet (27,400m) and then when the helium balloon elevating the plane exploded, the plane began its descent by parachute taking photographic images of earth.The project, named PARIS, an acronym for Paper Aircraft Released Into Space, was the idea of Steve Daniels, from Devon, John Oates, of The Register website, and Lester Haines. They embarked on the project in order to "invigorate the British space race".The plane, named Vulture 1, and two cameras on the balloon were retrieved virtually intact, just a small hole in the wing, about 20 miles from the launch site, 100 miles west of Madrid in Spain. Its tracking devices, release mechanism and camera systems were all produced with the help of advice from readers of technology website The Register and defence technology firm Qinetiq, reports BBC Devon Several videos samples from PARIS' YouTube site can be viewed here More about Paper plane, Space, Astronomers, Plane, Earth More news from paper plane space astronomers plane earth