The world's highest-flying paper plane: British team send homemade aircraft to the edge of space before it flies back to Earth

NASA, eat your heart out. Who needs a multi-billion-dollar spacecraft to study the Earth when you can use a paper plane?

Pictured here is the incredible British mission to send the plane 17 miles into the atmosphere to capture images of the curvature of the globe using a miniature camera.

The plane, which has a 3ft wing span and is made from paper straws covered in paper, was launched using nothing more powerful than a large helium balloon.

Countdown: The team prepares to launch the helium balloon from a remote spot 50 miles from Madrid

Lift-off: The balloon rises with the paper plane which has a 3ft wingspan and climbed for 90 minutes before the balloon burst

The craft soared to 90,000ft before the balloon exploded, freeing the plane to glide back down, taking photographs as it descended.

And the cost of Operation PARIS (Paper Aircraft Released Into Space)? A modest £8,000.

It was all the work of space enthusiasts Steve Daniels, John Oates and Lester Haines, who said they came up with the idea after being inspired by a project last year to send a lump of cheese into space.

The team launched the balloon from a remote spot around 50 miles west of Madrid after gaining permission from the Spanish authorities.

It took an hour-and-a-half to climb to 90,000ft before the expanding helium burst the balloon.

The team tracked the plane using a GPS navigation system as it took another 90 minutes to glide back to Earth and landed in woodland 100 miles from the release point. But for a hole in a wing, their creation was undamaged.

IT consultant Mr Daniels, 42, of Paignton, Devon, said the team had embarked on the project ‘for a laugh’. Although they spent around £8,000 to make it a success, he said he would happily do it all again



Out of this world: A photograph capturing the curvature of the globe is taken from PARIS at 90,000 ft

Touchdown: The plane safely returns to Earth after climbing 17 miles into the atmosphere during the mission