Launch of Cryosat satellite on the 8th of October 05 to measure the sea ice thickness across the Arctic

Climate predictions suggest the sea ice around the North Pole could disappear entirely by the end of the century, at least in summer.

Besides scientists still don’t have a detailed picture of sea ice thickness across the Arctic.

The European Space Agency mission is designed to obtain definitive data on the rates at which the planet’s white caps are shrinking.

Cryosat spacecraft is the first satellite designed specifically to measure the volume of sea ice over the Arctic and to map the ice sheets in unprecedented accuracy.

Cryosat will then circle the Earth in a polar orbit for three years, providing better coverage than existing satellites which miss a third of the Arctic Ocean.

Full coverage news under the European Space Agency (ESA) website – please go >>