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<p><em>The ISS sends a few mini-experiments on their way.</em></p> <img alt="tinysats.jpg" src="http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/tinysats.jpg" width="615" height="450" class="mt-image-none" /> <p> Behold three CubeSats launched from the International Space Station, aka The Mothership. Future ISS commander <a href="https://twitter.com/cmdr_hadfield/status/254121031046950914">Chris Hatfield tweeted the photo</a> this morning, calling it (accurately) "surreal." Two other CubeSats were launched from the ISS, as well. They were all part of a technology demonstration by the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA.</p><p> The CubeSat program has been a cheap way for researchers at universities and elsewhere to fly experiments in orbit without paying for a whole launch themselves. The tiny satellites are only about 4" on a side, so they can be piggybacked on larger missions. That means the total cost of a CubeSat can be kept under $100,000. </p><p>The basic tech was developed at Cal Poly and <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/cubesat/">Stanford in the late 1990s</a>, and roughly 75 of the cute little guys have made it into space.</p><p>Via <a href="http://www.twitter.com/doingitwrong">Tim Maly</a></p><img width='1' height='1' src='http://Theatlantic.feedsportal.com/c/34375/f/625845/s/2429f98d/mf.gif' border='0'/><div class='mf-viral'><table border='0'><tr><td valign='middle'><a href="http://share.feedsportal.com/viral/sendEmail.cfm?lang=en&title=Photo+of+the+Day%3A+The+Space+Station+Launches+3+Tiny+Satellites&link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Ftechnology%2Farchive%2F2012%2F10%2Fphoto-of-the-day-the-space-station-launches-3-tiny-satellites%2F263292%2F" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" /></a></td><td valign='middle'><a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Photo+of+the+Day%3A+The+Space+Station+Launches+3+Tiny+Satellites&link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Ftechnology%2Farchive%2F2012%2F10%2Fphoto-of-the-day-the-space-station-launches-3-tiny-satellites%2F263292%2F" target="_blank"><img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" /></a></td></tr></table></div><br/><br/><a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/146820840888/u/49/f/625845/c/34375/s/2429f98d/a2.htm"><img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/146820840888/u/49/f/625845/c/34375/s/2429f98d/a2.img" border="0"/></a><img width="1" height="1" src="http://pi.feedsportal.com/r/146820840888/u/49/f/625845/c/34375/s/2429f98d/a2t.img" border="0"/><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/AtlanticScienceAndTechnology/~4/-2Gr3X4XCjo" height="1" width="1"/>
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