ICESat
ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) was a NASA satellite mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights, as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. It operated as part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). ICESat was launched 13 January 2003 on a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California into a near-circular, near-polar orbit with an altitude of approximately 600 km (370 mi). It operated for seven years before being retired in February 2010, after its scientific payload shut down and scientists were unable to restart it.
ICESat satellite | |
| Mission type | Earth Observing System |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2003-002A |
| SATCAT no. | 27642 |
| Website | ICESat |
| Mission duration | 5 years (planned) 7 years, 1 month (achieved) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | BCP-2000 |
| Manufacturer | Ball Aerospace |
| Launch mass | 970 kg (2,140 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2 × 2 × 3.1 m (6 ft 7 in × 6 ft 7 in × 10 ft 2 in) |
| Power | 640 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 13 January 2003, 00:45:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Delta II 7320-10 (Delta 294) |
| Launch site | Vandenberg, SLC-2W |
| Contractor | Boeing Launch Services |
| Entered service | 2003 |
| End of mission | |
| Declared | February 2010 |
| Deactivated | 14 August 2010, 17:37 UTC |
| Decay date | 30 August 2010, 08:49 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Low Earth orbit |
| Perigee altitude | 586 km (364 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 594 km (369 mi) |
| Inclination | 94.00° |
| Period | 96.60 minutes |
ICESat mission patch | |
The ICESat mission was designed to provide elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas. It provides topography and vegetation data around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. The satellite was found useful in assessing important forest characteristics, including tree density.