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Published online 23 April 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news070423-2
Corrected online: 4 May 2007

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Satellite to probe mysterious glowing clouds

Mission will investigate clouds' connection to climate change.

NASA is about to launch a spacecraft to study mysterious invaders lurking above Earth's poles - not UFOs, but the shimmering, high-altitude apparitions known as noctilucent clouds.

The Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission, slated for launch on 25 April, will be the first mission dedicated to these clouds.

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