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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The 88-South Antarctic Traverse
NASA cryospheric scientist Kelly Brunt and ICESat-2 Deputy Project Scientist Tom Neumann recall some of the highlights and challenges from the recent 88-South Antarctic Traverse.
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Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
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 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.
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Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
ICESat-2 By the Numbers: Beam Spacing
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.
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Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
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
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ICESat-2’s Telescope
Engineers and technicians check the fit of ICESat-2’s telescope to its sling, before moving it into place on the instrument’s optical bench.
Measuring the Ice
ICESat-2 will measure the height of ice and its features, such as this glacial melt pond photographed July 16, 2014, over Alaska.
Pho Movie Trailer
In Photon Jump, a 3-minute short animation, a brave photon of light named Pho must travel from a NASA spacecraft down to Earth and back again to help complete a crucial science mission. The animation was created by the ICESat-2/SCAD Collaborative Student Project involving students and faculty from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
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ICESat-2's beryllium telescope during assembly
An engineer attaches components to ICESat-2's beryllium telescope, before it is attached to the satellite's ATLAS instrument.
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
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Assembling ICESat-2's ATLAS
Engineers are building and testing the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) for the ICESat-2 mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Snapchat Story
Launch countdown Snapchat story aired on August 22, 2018.
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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ATLAS's beryllium telescope
ATLAS captures returning photons in this 2.6-foot, 46-pound telescope.
ICESat-2 By the Numbers: Microradians
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
Orbiting ICESat-2
In this artist's concept of ICESat-2, the satellite's laser beams are visible as it orbits.
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.
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.
Laser Focus: Timing
Deputy Systems Engineer Phil Luers explains how the ATLAS transmitter and receiver subsystems come together to calculate the timing of photons, which, in turn, measure the elevation of ice.
Credits:
NASA/GSFC
Music: "Electric Works" by Philippe Lhommet, Koka Media; "From Source to Sea" by Christophe Lebled, Pierre Jacquot, Koka Media.
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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.
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Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
Sea Ice Thickness
This animation shows how ICESat-2 measures sea ice thickness.
Laser Focus: The Receiver
Laser Focus: The Receiver
Opto-Mechanical Engineer Tyler Evans explains how the photons that bounce back from Earth are received and filtered by the ATLAS telescope.
Video Credit: NASA/GSFC
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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.