The CryoSat-2 satellite, shown orbiting an Earth polar region, will measure changes in sea and land ice. These data will help scientists understand how they affect Earth's climate. (Source: ESA/AOES Medialab)
Sea ice may have a profound affect on the global climate, new satellite will find out how and why.
CryoSat-2, the European Space Agency's latest Earth monitoring satellite, arrived at the Baikonur Cosmodrome today, from where it will be launched heavenward in February. The 900-plus kilometer journey was made by truck and aircraft from the IABG (Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft) test center in Ottobrunn, Germany to Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
CryoSat-2 is the third of the ESA's series of Earth Explorer satellites, which also includes the March 17, 2009 launch of GOCE, or Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer and the September 9, 2009 launch of SMOS, or Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite. Together, the trio will continuously measure features of Earth as their names imply, gathering data to help scientists better understand the changes the planet is undergoing and how these changes are affected and what they will affect in the future.
CryoSat-2's mission is to study the changes in polar sea ice as well as land covering ice in Greenland and Antarctica. The amount of ice in these areas governs the depth of the oceans worldwide as well as gives a good indicator of global temperature variations. The data the satellite collects will help give scientists a better picture of how these ice fields may help regulate and are affected by the global climate.
CryoSat-2 will be launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on February 25, 2010, aboard a Dpenr rocket. The original CryoSat craft was destroyed during launch on October 8, 2005 when its lower stage rocket booster failed to separate during its burn sequence. Both the Dnepr (NATO SS-18) and CryoSat's UR-100N (NATO SS-19) rocket boosters are modified intercontinental ballistic missile designs.
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