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Copernical Team
Tiny satellites will address sizeable questions in space science
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China unveils gravitational-wave research center in Guangdong
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Arkisys unveils first spacecraft element for The Port in Pasadena
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University teams demonstrate 'cool' new technologies for the Moon, Mars
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Blue Origin plans second crewed space launch from Texas
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Rocket Lab wins Space Force contract to develop new rocket system
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Mercury ahead!
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![BepiColombo first Mercury flyby](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2021/09/bepicolombo_first_mercury_flyby/23478785-1-eng-GB/BepiColombo_first_Mercury_flyby_card_full.jpg)
The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury will make the first of six flybys of its destination planet on 1 October before entering orbit in 2025.
Asteroid sample brought back to Earth gets close-up look
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![The Hayabusa2 spacecraft shot this image of the asteroid Ryugu at a distance of 40 kilometers as it approached the asteroid in 2018. Credit: JAXA Asteroid sample brought back to Earth gets close-up look at Brown](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/asteroid-sample-brough.jpg)
In December 2020, Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft swung by Earth to drop off a cache of rock samples taken from a near-Earth asteroid called Ryugu. Asteroids like Ryugu are thought to represent the ancient building blocks of the solar system, and scientists have been eager to get a closer look at the returned samples.
Last week, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency shipped one of the samples—a millimeter-sized fragment from the asteroid's surface—to the laboratory of Brown University planetary scientist Ralph Milliken for analysis. Milliken's lab is one of the first in the U.S. to examine a Ryugu sample so far.
Milliken and Takahiro Hiroi, a senior research scientist at Brown, are members of the Hayabusa2 mission's science team.
Hughes conducts multi-orbit demonstration for resilient, secure UAV connectivity
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X-59 nose makes an appearance
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