The Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) team nipped out yesterday to pick up a satisfyingly large bottle of helium: an 80kg steel beast packing a tad over 10 cubic metres of lifting gas.

We'd like to offer a big ta very much to Air Liquide in Valladolid, for cheerfully providing PARIS with a big lift.

Naturally, our glamorous assistant Rui was on hand to pose with the vital supplies and, for a small large consideration, agreed to don a sequin dress in honour of our inspirational celebutard goddess - the heavenly Paris Hilton:

If that's not enough Friday excitement for you, then you'll certainly enjoy the supplied balloon fill valve. Ms Hilton has in the past, we're sure, handled similarly-shaped objects:

So, we've got helium, a main payload and a launch date. We just need a space paper plane and we're ready for lift-off... ®

Additional PARIS resources

• Our dedicated PARIS section, with all previous updates, is right here.
• New to PARIS? We have a basic mission summary here (pdf).
• Our Flickr page, for your viewing pleasure.
• Check out our YouTube channel - currently featuring a few kit tests.