On Thursday, a rocket was scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base carrying a special payload with a North Bay connection. The lift-off didn't go as planned, but students at Sonoma State University are still excited by the chance to put their learning into practice and into orbit.

The university has been part of a project called "3UCubed," helping to create a small satellite, about the size of a loaf of bread, that will soon be launched into orbit.

"It separates from the rocket, and then it starts to fall towards Earth," said Dr. Laura Peticolas. "But it's falling so fast that it keeps going around Earth and comes back around."

That's the way all satellites work, and they can stay up there for years, even decades, before coming back down. But Dr. Peticolas, 3UCubed's principal

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