Artist's impression of ICESat orbiting Earth. Click on image for full size (41K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA

NASA launched the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation satellite (ICESat) on January 12, 2003. ICESat will measure the height of the ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica. These measurements will help scientists determine whether the ice sheets are shrinking, growing, or staying the same size. Data about the size of the ice sheets will help answer questions about climate change, including possible changes in sea level caused by global warming. The main instrument on ICESat, the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), uses a laser to measure the height of ice sheets in the Earth's polar regions.

ICESat was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 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. The Cosmic Hot Interstellar Spectrometer (CHIPS) satellite will study dust and gas in space. CHIPS is about the size of a large suitcase.

Artist's impression of ICESat orbiting Earth. Click on image for full size (41K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA

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.

ICESat in orbit around Earth. Click on image for full size (41K JPEG) Image courtesy NASA

NASA launched a new satellite on January 12, 2003. The new satellite is called ICESat for short. ICESat's long name is the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation satellite. ICESat will measure the thickness of ice near the North Pole and over the South Pole using a laser.

Many scientists think the Earth is getting warmer. If it is, ice near the North and South Poles will probably start to melt. Scientists want to measure how much ice is melting - that is ICESat's job! If the ice near the poles is melting, the sea level of oceans around the world will go up, and there will be floods in many places near the oceans. That is why it is important for ICESat to measure the thickness of the ice.

The rocket that carried ICESat into space also had another satellite on it. That satellite is called CHIPS. CHIPS is about the size of a large suitcase. CHIPS will study dust and gas in space.