NASA's THEMIS mission successfully launched, me hearties, on board a Delta II rocket, Saturday, Feb. 17, at 6:01 pm EST from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. THEMIS stands for t' Time History o' Events and Macroscale Interactions durin' Substorms. It is NASA's first five-satellite mission launched aboard a single rocket. Avast! T' spacecraft separated from t' launch vehicle approximately 73 minutes after liftoff. Blimey! By 8:07 pm EST, mission operators at t' University o' California, Berkeley, commanded and received signals from all five spacecraft, confirmin' nominal separation status.