Snapchat Story
Launch countdown Snapchat story aired on August 22, 2018.
ICESat-2 Measures Slope
The ATLAS lidar on ICESat-2 uses 6 laser beams to measure the earth’s elevation and elevation change. This animation shows the beam tracks on Earth as the satellite passes overhead.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
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NSIDC Introduction to ICESat-2
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) archives and distributes data from ICESat-2. Here is their intro video to the mission.
ICESat-2 Deployment and Laser Pulses
The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, is a laser altimeter that will measure the heights of Earth’s surfaces. This animation shows deployment of ICESat-2's solar panels, door, and laser pulses.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Download high resolution video here
ICESat-2 measures the Ice Shelf
ICESat-2's instrument will take measurements every 2.5 feet along its ground path - mapping dips and drop-offs in the ice. This illustration is an outcome of the ICESat-2/SCAD Collaborative Student Project.
Pre-Flight Checkups for ICESat-2
To develop the computer programs that will crunch the raw data gathered by ICESat-2, the mission flew a series of campaigns with the MABEL instrument, which gathers similar information.
NASA Space Laser Heads on a Road Trip
To deliver the instrument safely to the spacecraft for assembly and testing, the ATLAS team developed special procedures for packing, transporting and monitoring the sensitive hardware.
Download full resolution video here.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Dr. Rachel Tilling Voices in the Field Audio Slide Show
Experience the sounds and senses of the remote polar regions through NASA’s Sea Ice Scientist in the Field, Dr. Rachel Tilling. This recording is a complement to NASA’s latest tactile book: “Earth: A Tactile View of the Blue Marble.”
ICESat-2 By the Numbers
ICESat-2 is an incredibly precise space laser that features the latest in NASA technology To measure ice heights, engineers have to take ICESat-2’s instrument ATLAS to the extreme – sometimes going big, sometimes going small, but always keeping it precise.
Download high resolution video here.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Before, During, and After the NASA GLOBE Trees Challenge 2022: A Revisit with the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership
With 3.03 trillion trees and 78,000 tree species on Earth, we strive to build and update the global inventory of tree height observations. Tracking how trees change over time, both in height and in the number of trees that make up an area, is a good indicator of an ecosystem’s health in an evolving climate. Through a combination of ICESat-2 and the GLOBE Program, we can compare space-based tree height and ground-based tree height observations.
Check out the "Before, During, and After the NASA GLOBE Trees Challenge 2022: A Revisit with the Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership" blog from the GLOBE Program's GLOBE Observer HERE.
You can also see feature articles that stem from this blog at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and NASA Science.
ICESat-2 Sea Ice Thickness
A view of the Arctic Ocean with ICESat-2 monthly average sea ice thickness data from November 2018 to April 2021. Low values are depicted in light blue, and higher values (5 meters) are depicted in magenta.
NASA Scientists Trek the South Pole
With extreme cold-weather gear, scientific instruments, and two tank-like snow machines called PistenBullys, ICESat-2 scientists traversed along section of the 88-degree south latitude line in an arc around the South Pole.
Download high resolution video here.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Cryo2Ice Campaign
Overview video of the Cryo2Ice Mission created by the European Space Agency. The orbit of CryoSat-2 has been slightly changed to align periodically with ICESat-2. This will provide almost simultaneous radar and lidar measurements over the same ice.
Photon Jump
Pho, a plucky bright green photon of light, must travel from a NASA spacecraft down to Earth and back again to help complete a crucial science mission in this educational short film.
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ICESat-2 By the Numbers: Orbits
ICESat-2 is an incredibly precise space laser that features the latest in NASA technology To measure ice heights, engineers have to take ICESat-2’s instrument ATLAS to the extreme – sometimes going big, sometimes going small, but always keeping it precise.
Download high resolution video here.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Mass Balance of Ice Sheets (Antarctica)
For high resolution downloads of video/animations, visit https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12977#26869.
ICESat-2 Elevates Our View of Earth
ICESat-2 will provide scientists with height measurements that create a global portrait of Earth’s third dimension, gathering data that can precisely track changes of terrain including glaciers, sea ice, forests and more.
Download full resolution video here.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Two Scientists Have a Frank and Honest Discussion about Antarctica
Orbiting ICESat-2
In this artist's concept of ICESat-2, the satellite's laser beams are visible as it orbits.
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Bevy of biomes
Beyond icy areas, ICESat-2 will measure other ecosystems including forests, rain forests, deserts and urban areas. This 2-sided poster is an outcome of the ICESat-2/SCAD Collaborative Student Project.
Laser Focus: The Transmitter
Opto-Mechanical Engineer Tyler Evans illustrates how the laser is transmitted from the ATLAS instrument on the ICESat-2 spacecraft.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Download high resolution video here
ICESat-2's 'Box Structure'
An engineer checks ICESat-2's box structure, shortly after its arrival in a NASA clean room in May. Over the next two years, engineers and technicians will attach electronics, optics, lasers, a telescope and more to the box, testing its function at each step.
ATLAS box structure
The box structure of the ATLAS instrument takes shape in the cleanroom at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, as engineers carefully connect and attach different electrical components and fiber optics.
Motion In The Ocean Activity Demo
Valerie Casasanto, outreach manager for the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, demonstrates the "Motion in the Ocean" water density activity. The materials needed are tennis ball tubes, a tub or container for excess water, salt, food coloring, tubing or a clear straw (a disassembled pen body could also work), and high density foam (such as from a children's puzzle floor mat) to make the fluid separator plugs.