CryoSat-2
Sign in to saveCryoSat-2 is a European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer Mission that launched on April 8, 2010. CryoSat-2 is dedicated to measuring polar sea ice thickness and monitoring changes in ice sheets. Its primary objective is to measure the thinning of Arctic sea ice, but has applications to other regions and scientific purposes, such as Antarctica and oceanography.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- CryoSat-2
- Spaceflight.image
- CryoSat model ESA384323.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- Life-size model of CryoSat
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Earth observation
- Spaceflight.operator
- ESA
- Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
- 2010-013A
- Spaceflight.SATCAT
- 36508
- Spaceflight.mission_duration
- 3 years (planned)Elapsed:
- Spaceflight.manufacturer
- EADS Astrium
- Spaceflight.power
- 850 watts
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- UTC
- Spaceflight.launch_rocket
- Dnepr
- Spaceflight.launch_site
- Baikonur 109/95
- Spaceflight.launch_contractor
- ISC Kosmotras
- Spaceflight.orbit_epoch
- 24 January 2015, 20:44:24 UTC
- Spaceflight.orbit_reference
- Geocentric
- Spaceflight.orbit_regime
- Low Earth
- Spaceflight.orbit_inclination
- 92.03 degrees
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
20 sectionsContents
- Mission objectives
- Original Objectives
- Extended Objectives
- Mission timeline
- Background
- Development
- Mission preparations
- Launch
- In orbit
- Results
- Satellite instruments
- SIRAL
- Low Resolution Mode
- SAR
- SARIn
- DORIS
- Supporting measurements: CRYOVEX
- See also
- References
- External links
CryoSat-2 is a European Space Agency (ESA) Earth Explorer Mission that launched on April 8, 2010. CryoSat-2 is dedicated to measuring polar sea ice thickness and monitoring changes in ice sheets. Its primary objective is to measure the thinning of Arctic sea ice, but has applications to other regions and scientific purposes, such as Antarctica and oceanography.
CryoSat-2 was built as a replacement for CryoSat-1, which failed to reach orbit following a launch failure in October 2005. CryoSat-2 was successfully launched five years later in 2010, with upgraded software aiming to measure changes in ice thickness to an accuracy of ~10% of the expected interannual variation. Unlike previous satellite altimetry missions, CryoSat-2 provides unparalleled Arctic coverage, reaching 88˚N (previous missions were limited to 81.5˚N).