CryoSat-2 ready for launch

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMVPXZNK7G_index_0.html

CryoSat-2 ready for launch

7 April 2010

Following yesterday's launch dress rehearsal and the debriefing today, the Russian State Commission has given the go-ahead to launch ESA's ice mission tomorrow at 15:57 CEST.

Today's go-ahead marks the last milestone along the road to launch the long-awaited CryoSat-2 satellite. By measuring the tiny variations in the thickness of ice floating in the polar oceans and changes in the vast ice sheets on land, the mission will provide scientists with hard evidence on the speed at which ice is diminishing.

This information will lead to a better understanding of the role ice plays in the Earth system and climate change.

"After the loss of the original CryoSat in 2005, we are extremely happy to have reached this point after four years rebuilding the satellite, including a number of improvements on the original," said Richard Francis, ESA's Project Manager, speaking from ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany.

...

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Successful launch for ESA’s CryoSat-2 ice satellite

http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cryosat/SEMH5ZZNK7G_0.html

Successful launch for ESA’s CryoSat-2 ice satellite

8 April 2010

ESA PR 07-2010. Europe's first mission dedicated to studying the Earth’s ice was launched today from Kazakhstan. From its polar orbit, CryoSat-2 will send back data leading to new insights into how ice is responding to climate change and the role it plays in our 'Earth system'.

The CryoSat-2 satellite was launched at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UTC) on a Dnepr rocket provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The signal confirming that it had separated from the launcher came 17 minutes later from the Malindi ground station in Kenya.

CryoSat-2 replaces the original CryoSat satellite that was lost in 2005 owing to a launch failure. The mission objectives, however, remain the same: to measure changes in the thickness of the vast ice sheets that overlie Antarctica and Greenland, as well as variations in the thickness of the relatively thin ice floating in the polar oceans.

"We know from our radar satellites that sea ice extent is diminishing, but there is still an urgent need to understand how the volume of ice is changing," said Volker Liebig, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes. "To make these calculations, scientists also need information on ice thickness, which is exactly what our new CryoSat satellite will provide. We are now very much looking forward to receiving the first data from the mission."

...

[OnlinePoker]

2. I went on their site but can't see when data will start being made available

Do you know when this is expected?