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In 1986, an experiment conceived by an Appleton high school student resulted in the first and only paper ever made in space.

The experiment, flown on the space shuttle Columbia, tested if paper made in zero gravity would have a more even fiber distribution.

The moment was forgotten over time, but is now the subject of a new exhibit at the History Museum at the Castle.

On the afternoon of Jan. 14, 1986, Terry Lafferty took up his position at a bench on the second floor of James River Corp.’s Neenah Technical Center and waited for the call from NASA.

In front of him were nine, small cylindrical devices that looked like funky French coffee presses. Each was about four inches in diameter and filled with pulp slurry.

At the same time, astronaut Steve Hawley unpacked ni

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