Space Station in paper plane stunt

The International Space Station is to conduct a series of 'experiments', including flying a paper aeroplane and throwing a boomerang in a vacuum.

Japanese astronaut Takao Doi will visit the station in March and will attempt to use a boomerang in zero gravity.

While not a core science mission, the experiment is expected to test aerodynamics in zero-gravity situations.

"Doi will personally carry a paper boomerang for the upcoming mission and we presume he will try it when he has spare time,'' an official at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency told News Corporation in Australia.

The second experiment is being carried out in association with the Japan Origami Plane Association and involves a treated paper aeroplane being launched towards Earth where it will hopefully re-enter the atmosphere.

The plane is being tested in a wind tunnel in Japan to see whether it will withstand the expected Mach 7 speeds it will encounter.

"We hope that the space station crew will write a message of peace on the plane before they launch it," Shinji Suzuki, an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Tokyo, told Ashai.

"We do not know where in the world the plane will land, but it would be nice to send a message to whoever finds it."