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Dust Collector
Featured on June 19, 2018
NASA's ER-2 is one of two types of aircraft the agency uses to collect bits of space dust from the upper atmosphere. These tiny grains (inset, microscopic view) come from comets and asteroids that orbit the Sun, and drift into the upper atmosphere. The aircraft reach altitudes of 60,000 feet or higher, which is far above commercial traffic. [NASA/Carla Thomas]
