ICESat-2 Launches, Promising New Era of Glaciology and Polar Oceanography

Polar scientists Jamie Morison and Ben Smith watched NASA’s ICESat-2 blast off in September. With the instrument now in orbit, their work on the science definition team enters a new phase of observations and discovery.

“We’ve always had to make bargains with the data we have. Now with ICESat-2, many measurement that had been in soft focus will be very sharp.” –Glaciologist Ben Smith

“At the launch we saw all these people who had similar intense interest and excitement about the project, and we realized how wonderful it is that so much energy, thought, and creativity has been poured into a project so humane – to understand how our Earth is changing.” –Oceanographer Jamie Morison