Artist's impression of ICESat orbiting Earth.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy NASA

ICESat launch
News story originally written on January 17, 2003

NASA launched the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation satellite (ICESat) on January 12, 2003.

ICESat will use a laser to measure the height of the ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica. These measurements will help scientists learn whether the ice sheets are shrinking, growing, or staying the same size. Knowing about changes in the ice sheets can help us understand changes in Earth's climate, including possible changes in sea level caused by global warming.

ICESat was launched from California aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket. The satellite will orbit Earth about 600 kilometers (373 miles) up in a polar orbit that will carry it over both the North and South Poles.

The Delta II rocket also carried a second, smaller satellite called CHIPS which will study dust and gas in space. CHIPS is about the size of a large suitcase.


Last modified January 17, 2003 by Randy Russell.

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