NASA and ULA launch mission to track the evolution of ice in the world



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<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "WASHINGTON, September 15, 2018 / PRNewswire / – Launch of NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation ICESat-2 Satellite California at 09:02 AM EDT Saturday, undertaking its mission to measure the ice of the frozen expanses of the Earth with unprecedented accuracy. "data-reactid =" 11 ">WASHINGTON, September 15, 2018 / PRNewswire / – Launch of NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation ICESat-2 Satellite California at 09:02 AM EDT Saturday, undertaking its mission to measure the ice of the frozen expanses of the Earth with unprecedented accuracy.

NASA logo. (PRNewsFoto / NASA) (PRNewsFoto /)

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "ICESat-2 is out of Complex Space Launch- 2 to Vandenberg Air Force Base on United Launch Alliance's latest Delta II rocket. Svalbard, Norway, acquired signals from the spacecraft about 75 minutes after launch. "Data-reactid =" 23 "> ICESat-2 took off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the latest United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Svalbard, Norway, acquired signals from the spacecraft about 75 minutes after launch. It is proceeding as planned and in orbit around the globe, from pole to pole, at 17,069 mph from an average altitude of 290 miles.

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" With this mission, we continue to explore of humanity remote polar regions of our planet and advance our understanding of how ongoing changes in land ice cover at the poles and elsewhere will affect lives in the world, now and in the future ", declared Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA's Scientific Missions Directorate. "data-reactid =" 24 ">" With this mission, we continue to explore the distant polar regions of our planet and better understand how changes in ice cover elsewhere will affect lives around the world, now and in the future. in the future, "said Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA's Scientific Missions Directorate.

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "ICESat-2 carries a single instrument, the Advanced Altimetry System ATLAS Topography Laser (ATLAS) will be activated approximately two weeks after the mission operations team completes the initial testing of the spacecraft, then ICESat-2 will begin work on its scientific goal by collecting sufficient data Greenland and Antarctic glaciers less than four millimeters – the width of a pencil. "data-reactid =" 25 "> ICESat-2 carries a single instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimetry System (ATLAS). The ATLAS will be activated approximately two weeks after the mission operations team performs the first spacecraft testing, then ICESat-2 will start working on its scientific purpose, collecting enough data to estimate the annual height change of the spacecraft. Greenland and Antarctic ice caps less than four millimeters – the width of a pencil.

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "" While the launch was incredibly exciting, for us, scientists, the most anticipated part of the mission begins when we turn on the laser and get our first data, "said Thorsten Markus, ICESat-2 project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "We are really looking forward to making this data available to the scientific community as quickly as possible so that we can begin to explore what ICESat-2 can tell us about our complex planet." "Data-reactid =" 26 ">" Today's launch was incredibly exciting, for us scientists, the most-awaited part of the mission begins when we turn on the laser and get our first data " , said Thorsten Markus, ICESat-2 project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "We are really looking forward to making this data available to the scientific community as quickly as possible so that we can begin to explore what ICESat-2 can tell us about our complex planet."

<p class = "canvas-atom-text-canvas Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The high-resolution data will document the changes in the polar ice caps of Earth improve sea-level rise forecasts supported by melting ice cap Greenland and Antarctic, and help scientists understand the mechanisms that decrease floating ice and evaluate how this loss of ice affects the ocean and the atmosphere. "data-reactid =" 27 "> High resolution data will document changes in the polar ice cap predictions of sea-level rise supported by ice melt Greenland and Antarcticand help scientists understand the mechanisms that reduce floating ice and assess how this loss of ice affects the ocean and the atmosphere.

ICESat-2 continues the assessment of ice height measurements initiated by NASA's ICESat mission from 2003 to 2009, continued in 2009 by the IceBridge Operation Air flights over the Arctic and Antarctic . 2 will be accessible to the public through the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm "type =" text "content =" Goddard has built and tested the ATLAS instrument, and manages ICESat-2 mission of NASA's Scientific Missions Directorate, Northrop Grumman designed and built the spacecraft bus, installed the instrument and tested the completed satellite. Kennedy Space Center in Floridais responsible for the acquisition, integration, analysis and management of launches. "data-reactid =" 29 "> Goddard has built and tested the ATLAS instrument and is managing the NASA Science Mission ICESat-2 mission.The spacecraft bus has installed the instrument and tested the completed satellite. NASA's Launch Services program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for the acquisition, integration, analysis and management of launches.

For more information on NASA's other scientific activities, visit the website

<p class = "canvas-atom-canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – smt Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = " https://www.nasa.gov/earth "data-reactid =" 31 "> https://www.nasa.gov/earth

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