"NASA launches trio of microsatellites"

This is way cool, especially the way the payload was launched into space.

The 55-pound (24.75-kilogram) Space Technology 5 satellites, which will test new technologies for future science missions, were carried aloft from Vandenberg Air Force Base aboard a Lockheed L-1011 jet.

Shortly after 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET), when the plane reached 39,000 feet (11,700 meters), a compact Pegasus rocket dropped from the aircraft's belly, fired its engine and ferried the satellites on a 10-minute climb into space.

Here's to more innovations as we head out to the stars.