NASA's most advanced space laser satellite blasted off Saturday on a mission to track ice loss around the world and improve forecasts of sea level rise as the climate warms.
NASA's most advanced space laser satellite blasted off Saturday on a mission to track ice loss around the world and improve forecasts of sea level rise as the climate warms.
Cloaked in pre-dawn darkness, the USD 1 billion, half-ton ICESat-2 launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force base in California at 6:02 am (local time).
"Three, two one, liftoff!" said a launch commentator on NASA television. "Lifting ICESat-2 on a quest to explore the polar ice sheets of our constantly changing home planet." The launch marks the first time in nearly a decade that NASA has had a tool in orbit to measure ice sheet surface elevation across the globe.
The preceding mission, ICESat, launched in 2003 and ended in 2009. The first ICESat revealed that sea ice was thinning, and ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas in Greenland and Antarctica. In the intervening nine years, an aircraft mission called Operation IceBridge, has flown over the Arctic and Antarctic, taking height measurements of the changing ice.
But a view from space - especially with the latest technology - should be far more precise. The new laser will fire 10,000 times in one second, compared to the original ICESat which fired 40 times a second.
1. ICESat-2 mission
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Florence smashed into the US East Coast Friday with howling winds, torrential rains and life-threatening storm surges as emergency crews scrambled to rescue hundreds of people stranded in their homes by flood waters. Forecasters warned of catastrophic flooding and other mayhem from the monster storm, which is only Category 1 but physically sprawling and dangerous.
Photo Credits: AFP
2. ULA Delta II rocket with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2
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The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth''s ice sheets.
Photo Credits: AFP
3. Mission to uncover the true depth of Earth's ice sheets
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NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth''s ice sheets.
Photo Credits: AFP
4. Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard
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The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket, with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard, is seen shortly after the mobile service tower at SLC-2 was rolled back before launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, U.S. September 15, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
5. First ICESat revealed that ice cover was disappearing from coastal areas in Greenland and Antarctica
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The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket, with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard, launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, US September 15, 2018.
Photo Credits: Reuters
6. New laser will fire 10,000 times in one second
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NASATV, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket with the NASA Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) onboard lifts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth''s ice sheets.
Photo Credits: AFP
7. Mission will gather enough data to estimate the annual elevation
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NASA counted down Saturday to the launch of its $1 billion ICESat-2 mission, using advanced lasers to uncover the true depth of the melting of Earth''s ice sheets.
Photo Credits: AFP
