ICESat-2

Countdown clocks are holding at the T-15 minute mark. This is a built-in hold.

During the three-year ICESat-2 mission, the spacecraft will use its only instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), to measure the elevation of Earth’s surface. Its focus is on Earth’s frozen and icy areas, or cryosphere. By timing how long it takes laser beams to travel from the satellite to Earth and back, scientists can calculate the height of glaciers, sea ice, forests, lakes and more – including the changing ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.

ICESat-2 builds on the capabilities of ICESat-1, which launched in 2003, also aboard a Delta II from Vandenberg Air Force Base. That mission operated until 2009.

Also on board is the ELaNa XVIII payload. ELaNa, which stands for Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, is a NASA initiative that provides opportunities to launch small payloads known as CubeSats. Flying today on ELaNa XVIII are:

• SurfSat – University of Central Florida
• DAVE (Damping and Vibration Experiment) – California Polytechnic State University
• ELFIN (Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) – University of California, Los Angeles, CA
• ELFIN-STAR (Spatio-Temporal Ambiguity Resolution) – identical twin to ELFIN – University of California, Los Angeles, CA

The CubeSats are flying inside Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployers, or P-PODS, which are mounted to the Delta II rocket’s second stage. They’ll be deployed after ICESat-2 spacecraft separation.

Launch day has arrived for NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2. The spacecraft is safely sealed inside the payload fairing atop the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket awaiting liftoff this morning from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Today’s launch will be the last for the Delta II vehicle, which has flown more than 150 times in the nearly 30 years since its 1989 debut.

Today’s launch window is targeted to open at 5:46 a.m. PDT (8:46 a.m. EDT) and extend to 6:55 a.m. PDT (9:55 a.m. EDT). Coming up, 1st Lt. Daniel Smith of the 30th Space Wing, the launch weather officer, will update the launch team on today’s forecast.

The vehicle’s first stage has been loaded with cryogenic liquid oxygen and a refined, rocket-grade kerosene called RP-1.

Stay with us for the latest from the countdown as NASA and United Launch Alliance prepare for liftoff of ICESat-2.

Weather remains favorable for the Sept. 15 launch of NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. The latest forecast from the U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing predicts a 100 percent chance of favorable weather on launch day with patchy fog and visibility of 2-3 miles.

The spacecraft window opens at 5:46 a.m. PDT (8:46 a.m. EDT) and extends for 2 hours, 34 minutes.

The launch vehicle window is now approximately 50 minutes based on the launch team’s decision to load RP-1 fuel during the countdown, approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes prior to the beginning of the launch window.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, a mission to measure the changing height of Earth’s ice, is scheduled to launch Saturday, Sept. 15, with a 40-minute window opening at 5:46 a.m. PDT (8:46 a.m. EDT). The spacecraft will lift off from Space Launch Complex 2 (SLC-2) at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on the final launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. The U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing weather officer reported they are predicting a 100 percent chance of favorable weather on launch day.

Be sure to follow along during the live coverage events below.

NASA EDGE Tower Rollback Show, Friday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT)
Watch live at:
NASA TV: www.nasa.gov/nasalive
NASA EDGE Facebook: www.facebook.com/nasaedgefan
NASA LSP Facebook: www.facebook.com/NASALSP
NASA EDGE YouTube: www.youtube.com/NASAedge
NASA EDGE Ustream: www.usream.tv/nasaedge

Guests:
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington
Doug McLennan, ICESat-2 project manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Kelly Brunt, ICESat-2 science team member, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Rex Engelhardt, mission manager, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Mic Woltman, chief, Fleet Systems Integration Branch, NASA’s Launch Services Program
Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA Kennedy Space Center
Tom Neumann, ICESat-2 deputy project scientist, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Donya Douglas-Bradshaw, ATLAS instrument project manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dana VanDersaral, mission assurance team, United Launch Alliance

Live Launch Coverage, Saturday, Sept. 15, 5:10 a.m. PDT (8:10 a.m. EDT)
Join us for updates from the countdown, here on the blog and on NASA TV.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, mission and launch teams today concluded a successful Launch Readiness Review. There are no technical issues being worked at this time. Teams are proceeding toward liftoff from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday, Sept. 15, at 5:46 a.m. PDT (8:46 a.m. EDT) on a United Launch Alliance Delta II, the rocket’s final mission.

ICESat-2 will measure the height of our changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses per second. The satellite will carry a single instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), which measures the travel times of laser pulses to calculate the distance between the spacecraft and Earth’s surface. 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 and forests.

The U.S. Air Force 30th Space Wing weather officer indicated that they are predicting a 100 percent chance of favorable weather on launch day.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, is being prepared for liftoff Saturday aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The launch window opens at 8:46 a.m. EDT (5:46 a.m. PDT).

NASA will host a prelaunch mission briefing today at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT). The briefing will be broadcast on NASA TV. Scheduled participants are:

• Tom Wagner, ICESat-2 program scientist at NASA Headquarters
• Doug McLennan, ICESat-2 project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
• Cathy Richardson, Deputy Program Manager, Earth Science Projects Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Tom Neumann, ICESat-2 deputy project scientist at Goddard
• Lori Magruder, ICESat-2 science definition team lead at the University of Texas at Austin
• Helen Fricker, ICESat-2 science definition team member at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Bill Barnhart, ICESat-2 program manager at Northrop Grumman
• Tim Dunn, launch director at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
• Scott Messer, program manager for NASA Programs at United Launch Alliance
• 1st Lt. Daniel Smith, launch weather officer with the 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg

Media and the public may ask questions during the briefing using #askNASA.

NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, is scheduled to launch Saturday, Sept. 15, at 5:46 a.m. PDT (8:46 a.m. EDT). There is a 40-minute launch opportunity within the spacecraft launch window, which extends for 2 hours, 34 minutes. The 40-minute window is determined by super-cold liquid oxygen temperature (cryogenic propellant) effects on the Delta II rocket. The team is targeting the earliest opportunity within the spacecraft window, which could shift based on launch operations.

NASA and United Launch Alliance launch and mission partners are gathered at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for the final week of final prelaunch activities for the agency’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2. The three-year mission is scheduled to launch at 8:46 a.m. EDT (5:46 a.m. PDT) on Saturday, Sept. 15, with liftoff aboard a ULA Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex-2 (SLC-2).

Launch of the ICESat-2 spacecraft also will mark the final flight of the Delta II, which has served as a workhorse for NASA, the U.S. military and other customers since its 1989 debut.

Several significant prelaunch milestones are complete. The ICESat-2 spacecraft has been transported from the Astrotech payload processing facility to SLC-2, where it has since been lifted, mated atop the rocket, and encapsulated inside the payload fairing that will protect it during the first minutes of flight.

Tune in Thursday for the prelaunch briefing at 4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) on NASA TV, and be sure to join us here on NASA’s Launch Blog or on NASA TV for countdown coverage beginning Saturday at 8:10 a.m. EDT (5:10 a.m. PDT).

The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket slated to launch NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2, or ICESat-2, has made significant progress toward liftoff, planned for Sept. 12. Prelaunch preparations are well underway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the rocket is coming together at Space Launch Complex 2. Earlier this month the booster, or first stage, was lifted into place in the complex’s mobile service tower, followed by installation of the rocket’s four solid rocket motors, as well as the interstage, a connector that adjoins the first and second stages. The rocket’s second stage was lifted and installed atop the booster on Thursday, June 21.

The ICESat-2 spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg on June 12 and is undergoing its own processing activities inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages development of the ICESat-2 mission, including mission systems engineering and mission operations on behalf of the agency’s Earth Science Division. The ICESat-2 spacecraft was built and tested by Northrop Grumman in Gilbert, Arizona. The satellite will carry a single instrument called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS, built and tested at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, is providing the Delta II launch service. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for launch service acquisition, integration, analysis, and launch management.