What Happens If You Throw a Paper Airplane in Space?
A paper airplane thrown in space would not fly like on Earth due to the lack of atmosphere to generate lift. Without air resistance, it would travel in a straight line at constant velocity indefinitely until acted upon by another force, such as gravity pulling it into an orbit or causing it to burn up upon re-entry.
Background
- The article explores the physics of throwing a paper airplane in the vacuum of space, challenging a common intuition that it would glide or fly like on Earth.
- Without atmosphere, there is no air to generate lift or drag, so a paper airplane would simply travel in a straight line at constant speed (Newton's first law) until it hit something or was pulled by gravity.
- The piece likely references the International Space Station (ISS) as a point of comparison: inside the ISS, which is in freefall orbit, a paper airplane could "fly" because the cabin still has air, but outside in the vacuum it cannot.
- Related concepts include orbital mechanics: the paper airplane would not orbit like the ISS unless thrown at ~17,500 mph (the orbital velocity required to balance gravity with its forward motion).
- This is a thought experiment, not a real experiment — no one has actually thrown a paper airplane outside a spacecraft.