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Some history:
Captain Cook's 1769 expedition actually went to Tahiti because it was an ideal southern hemisphere location to observe the transit and, from the resulting data, help most accurately measure the distance from the earth to the sun.
Once the scientists had made their astronomical observations, Cook then proceeded to open sealed orders instructing him to discover and claim for the British a rumored Terra Australis, a great south landmass.
Both of these missions were, of course, successful.
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