IceBridge, a six-year NASA mission, is the largest airborne survey of Earth's polar ice ever flown. It will yield an unprecedented three-dimensional view of Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets, ice shelves and sea ice. These flights will provide a yearly, multi-instrument look at the behavior of the rapidly changing features of the Greenland and Antarctic ice.
Data collected during IceBridge will help scientists bridge the gap in polar observations between NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) -- in orbit since 2003 -- and ICESat-2, planned for early 2016. ICESat stopped collecting science data in 2009, making IceBridge critical for ensuring a continuous series of observations.
IceBridge will use airborne instruments to map Arctic and Antarctic areas once a year. IceBridge flights are conducted in March-May over Greenland and in October-November over Antarctica. Other smaller airborne surveys around the world are also part of the IceBridge campaign.
Tags:
Additional Info
- Lead Nation: USA
- Project Website: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/icebridge/index.html
Latest from Copernical Team
- Euclid Space Warps: help spot galaxies bending spacetime
- Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket is grounded after launching satellite into the wrong orbit
- How do astronauts adapt their grip and move objects when transitioning between Earth and space?
- NASA shuts off instrument on Voyager 1 to keep spacecraft operating
- Hubble turns 36 with a dazzling Trifid Nebula portrait
- Blue Origin reuses New Glenn booster for the first time in Florida launch
- The moon might be more prone to fires
- Week in images: 13-17 April 2026
- Human space research gets a boost from retired NASA centrifuge
- Back on Earth, Artemis II crew still finding their footing
