What is the purpose of the US Space Agency's Themis Mission, which was recently in the news?
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UPSC Civil Services preparation
- ATo study the possibility of life on Mars
- BTo study the satellites of Saturn
- CTo study the colourful display of high latitude skiesCorrect
- DTo build a space laboratory to study the stellar explosions
Explanation
The correct option is C because the THEMIS mission, which stands for Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms, was launched by NASA to study the Earths aurora borealis and aurora australis. These are the colorful light displays seen in the high latitude polar skies. The mission specifically aims to understand the physical processes in the Earths magnetosphere that trigger these auroral substorms and how they release large amounts of energy.
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