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In that location'due south substantial evidence that World'southward ice caps are shrinking, but we ofttimes lack the instruments to track the changes in detail. NASA launched a satellite in 2003 to measure surface water ice, merely that mission ended in 2022. In September, NASA volition launch a follow-upwardly satellite chosen the Ice, Cloud, and Country Superlative Satellite-two (ICESat-two). This spacecraft will employ lasers to take careful measurements of ice to follow how it changes over time.

NASA has conducted studies of water ice coverage for years, only the areas that need monitoring are vast. NASA's Tom Wagner says many of the regions of interest are the size of the continental Us. It'southward not always practical to watch over such large areas with airplanes, but space-based cameras take a hard time measuring tiptop, which is necessary for tracking the thickness of ice sheets.

ICESat-ii will launch around the eye of the month with an improved version of the laser system from the original ICESat. When that satellite shut down, ICESat-2 was even so years away from completion. NASA threw together a stopgap mission called IceBridge (get it?) to keep an eye on smaller areas that were particularly important. The news from the original ICESat mission wasn't good — NASA says ocean ice has thinned past two-thirds since the 1980s.

ICESat-two will exist able to update the measurements taken by the last mission and provide more than consistent coverage of the globe than IceBridge. The satellite volition orbit at an altitude of nearly 300 miles (500 kilometers), shining a laser from an musical instrument called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS). The 532nm beam of calorie-free will remain active at all times, firing 10,000 times per 2nd.

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The single beam is split into half dozen by the satellite in order to project them in a filigree pattern on the surface. Well-nigh of those photos are absorbed by the atmosphere or bounce off in other directions, but some of them bounce back to the satellite. The round trip time allows ICESat-2 to calculate the height of the surface. From its polar orbit, the satellite will scan the unabridged surface every 91 days, which is very much on purpose. With that orbit, ICESat-2 tin measure the same locations in all four seasons.

The satellite itself is small — barely the size of a small machine. It won't demand a heavy-duty rocket to reach infinite, so NASA plans to launch it aboard a ULA Delta Ii on September 15th. That appointment could modify if launch conditions are not favorable.

Now read: Scientists Confirm Water Ice on the Moon'due south Surface, Scientists Discover Ultra-Rare Ice-7 on Earth for the Beginning Time Inside Diamonds, and NASA'southward Next Lunar Rover Volition Drill in Search of Ice