{"id":18364,"date":"2018-09-15T22:52:49","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T14:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/final-delta-2-rocket-launch-puts-nasas-icesat-2-satellite-in-orbit-to-monitor-ice\/"},"modified":"2018-09-15T22:52:49","modified_gmt":"2018-09-15T14:52:49","slug":"final-delta-2-rocket-launch-puts-nasas-icesat-2-satellite-in-orbit-to-monitor-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/final-delta-2-rocket-launch-puts-nasas-icesat-2-satellite-in-orbit-to-monitor-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Final Delta 2 rocket launch puts NASA\u2019s ICESat-2 satellite in orbit to monitor ice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ICESAT-2
A United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket rises from its launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, carrying NASA\u2019s ICESAT-2 satellite into orbit. (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA kicked off its ICESat-2 mission to monitor our planet\u2019s ice sheets from space using a laser-scanning satellite this morning, with a launch that marked the end of a nearly 30-year run for United Launch Alliance\u2019s Delta 2 rocket.<\/p>\n

Liftoff came at 6:02 a.m. PT from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, after a slight delay in the countdown due to concerns about the chilldown of the rocket\u2019s helium bottles. The two-stage rocket made a trouble-free ascent to orbit.<\/p>\n

ICESat-2 follows up on an earlier NASA mission that used laser-ranging data to measure ice sheet balance and sea level. This time around, the laser-scanning instrument will be capable of measuring Earth\u2019s elevation every 30 inches (70 centimeters) across a 30-foot-wide track as it circles the planet.<\/p>\n

The data will help scientists determine how climate change is affecting global ice levels, and how changes in the ice affect the height of Earth\u2019s oceans.<\/p>\n

\u201cICESat<\/span>\u20132<\/span> is designed to answer a simple glaciology question very, very well: It will tell us where, and how fast, the ice sheets are thickening and thinning,\u201d Benjamin Smith<\/span>, a glaciologist at the University of Washington\u2019s Applied Physics Laboratory who\u2019s a member of the mission\u2019s science definition team, said in a news release. \u201cWhen these data start coming in, we will immediately get a big-picture map of how Antarctica and Greenland have changed over the past decade.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a side benefit, the satellite will measure the height of the planet\u2019s forests and deserts as well. The mission\u2019s tortured acronym stands for \u201cI<\/strong>ce, C<\/strong>loud and land E<\/strong>levation Sat<\/strong>ellte.\u201d<\/p>\n