BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 11 -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. announced it has shipped its Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation satellite (ICESat) to NASA at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in preparation for a winter launch.
ICESat will detect the height of the Earth's polar ice masses to determine changes in the amount of water stored in the polar deep freeze. These changes are major factors in global sea level change, and understanding them is key to predicting future changes in the Earth's climate, Ball said.
The ICESat consists of the geoscience laser altimeter system (GLAS) and a precision on-board global positioning system (GPS).
Ball Aerospace was awarded the contract for ICESat under NASA's Rapid Spacecraft Development program. ICESat's operations following the launch will be handled under a Ball Aerospace subcontract to the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. provides imaging and communications products for commercial and government customers worldwide and is a subsidiary of Ball Corp.
For more information, visit: http://www.ball.com/aerospace/