ICESat

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ICESat
ICESat
Type: Earth observation satellite
Country: United StatesUnited States United States
Operator: National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA NASA
COSPAR-ID : 2003-002A
Mission dates
Begin: January 13, 2003, 00:45 UTC
Starting place: Vandenberg SLC-2W
Launcher: Delta 7320-10 D294
Flight duration: 7 years
Status: crashed on August 30, 2010
Orbit data
Rotation time : 96.6 min
Orbit inclination : 94 °
Apogee height 610 km
Perigee height 593 km

ICESat ( I ce, C loud and Land E levation Sat ellite), part of NASA's earth observation system, is the name of a satellite mission to determine ice sheet thicknesses and changes, the measurement of height profiles of clouds and aerosols, as well as the height of vegetation and sea ice thickness . The most important instrument on board was the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS), which was developed by the Goddard Space Flight Center .

Mission history

ICESat was fired on January 13, 2003 by means of a Boeing Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California onto a nearly circular orbit that spans the two polar regions. The height of the track after the start was 600 km.

The first measurements were taken on February 20, 2003. The first of the three lasers already failed on March 29th, so the operating times had to be rescheduled. In the next few years 15 measurement campaigns were carried out until the last laser failed on October 11, 2009. Efforts to reactivate it were suspended in February 2010.

Between June 23 and July 14, NASA gradually reduced the satellite's orbit to 200 km to reduce its lifespan. On August 14, 2010, all systems were shut down after the remaining fuel had been consumed. On August 30th, ICESat entered the atmosphere and largely burned up. Some debris fell into the Barents Sea around 09:00 UTC .

Interim solution and successor

The successor model ICESat-2 was launched on September 15, 2018. In contrast to ICESat, several lasers are used at the same time so that terrain shapes can be recognized during a single cycle. In the transitional period, data collection will be carried out temporarily by Operation IceBridge .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b ICESat in the Encyclopedia Astronautica , accessed on September 10, 2012 (English).
  2. ^ BE Schutz et al: Overview of the ICESat Mission. (PDF; 104 kB) In: Geophysical Research Letters Vol. 32. November 2, 2005, accessed on September 10, 2012 (English).
  3. ^ Kathryn Hansen: ICESat's Notable Moments in Science. NASA, February 24, 2010, accessed September 10, 2012 .
  4. ^ Sarah DeWitt: NASA's Successful Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Mission Comes to an End. NASA, August 30, 2010, accessed September 10, 2012 .
  5. NASA: Counting on NASA's ICESat-2. August 28, 2018, accessed on October 1, 2018 (English): "While the first ICESat satellite (2003-2009) measured ice with a single laser beam, ICESat-2 splits its laser light into six beams"
  6. IceBridge Mission Overview . Retrieved October 28, 2014.