Two New Missions Set to Study One of Earth's Most Critically Changing Regions
In 2018, NASA will intensify its focus on one of the most critical but remote parts of our changing planet with the launch of two new satellite missions and an array of airborne campaigns. GRACE-FO and ICESat-2 will use radically different techniques to observe how the massive ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are changing over time and how much they are contributing to sea level rise. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/ LK Ward
A 3D interactive model of NASA's GRACE-FO spacecraft.
GRACE-FO 3D Model
The rocket carrying GRACE-FO lifts off into a blue sky, with the Pacific Ocean beneath it.
GRACE-FO Launch, Sky and Sea
Flames from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching GRACE-FO into orbit.
Rocket Flames
GRACE-FO, a collaboration between NASA and German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on on May 22, 2018.
GRACE-FO Launches
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is seen with the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
GRACE-FO in Falcon 9 on Launchpad
The twin satellites of NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on, or GRACE-FO, will track the movement of water around Earth. This short video explains how and why it's important.
Why Is GRACE-FO So Important?
NASA scientists used GRACE data to identify regional trends of freshwater movement, and combined that information with data from other satellites, climate models and precipitation measurements to d...
For 15 Years, GRACE Tracked Freshwater Movements Around the World
GRACE-FO Satellites During Testing (View 2)
The GRACE-FO satellites were assembled by Airbus Defence and Space in Germany. The photo shows the satellites in the testing facility of IABG, an Airbus subcontractor, in Munich (view 1).
GRACE-FO Satellites During Testing
The GRACE-FO satellites, attached to turntable fixtures, at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (view 1).
GRACE-FO Satellites, Attached to Turntable Fixtures
A GRACE-FO satellite and its turntable fixture at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
GRACE-FO Satellite on a Turntable Before Launch
GRACE observed Earth's surface mass changes nearly every month from 2002 to mid-2017. GRACE Follow-On will provide crucial continuity to these observations for the next five years or more.
Earth Mass Changes, 2002 to 2017
The signal of the December 2004 earthquake in the Indian Ocean in GRACE observations of Earth's gravity field.
GRACE Sees Earthquake in Indian Ocean
A simplified example of how the distance between the GRACE-FO satellites changes as they pass from the Caribbean Sea across Colombia and Peru.
How GRACE-FO Measures Gravity
A map of groundwater storage trends for Earth's 37 largest aquifers using GRACE data, showing depletion and replenishment in millimeters of water per year.
Map of Groundwater Storage Trends for Earth's 37 Largest Aquifers