PARIS was a rare example of non-governmental development of a space project. The mission was completed on an undisclosed day in 2010. PARIS is an acronym for Paper Airplane Released Into Space.
PARIS was the culmination of two year's effort by The Register Special Projects Division. Some may be be more familiar with it as the black ops department of UK-based information technology website, The Register. The publication's logo is black and white, depicting the side profile of a large-beaked bird of prey. The PARIS flight craft was aptly named Vulture 1.
Vulture 1
PARIS is not a parody. Although the documentary video is a bit humorous, PARIS did succeed in attaining sufficient altitude that the curvature of Earth was clearly visible. The PARIS mission achieved a maximum altitude three times greater than that of any prior paper airplane flight. Vulture 1 landed about 100 miles from the launch site.
