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THEMIS

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description THEMIS Overview

THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) is a NASA mission launched in 2007 comprising five identical satellites. It was designed to investigate the physical processes occurring in the Earth's magnetosphere, specifically pinpointing the origin of magnetospheric substorms. The mission achieved this by tracking the progression of energy releases and linking magnetic reconnection events to auroral brightening. In 2010, two of the probes were redirected into lunar orbits under the ARTEMIS mission extension.

help THEMIS FAQ

What does THEMIS stand for?

THEMIS means Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms. It is a NASA mission that studies how mass and energy move through near-Earth space and what starts auroral substorms ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/themis-artemis/)).

How many spacecraft made up the original THEMIS mission?

The original THEMIS constellation had five identical spacecraft, THEMIS A through E, launched on February 17, 2007. They were placed in coordinated orbits so researchers could compare measurements at different locations in Earth's magnetosphere ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/themis-artemis/)).

How does THEMIS study auroras?

Rather than treating an aurora as only a light display, THEMIS measures the magnetic fields, electric fields, and charged particles involved in a magnetospheric substorm. The five-spacecraft formation helps separate changes that happen at different places from changes that happen over time ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/themis-artemis/)).

What happened to THEMIS spacecraft B and C?

In 2010, two original THEMIS spacecraft, B and C, were redirected into lunar orbits and renamed ARTEMIS. That acronym is a separate scientific mission, not the crewed NASA Artemis Moon program ([NASA](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/themis-artemis/)).

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