Mission: Experiment at the NASA Goddard Visitor Center

A free program offered on the third Saturday of the month, with activities best suited for children ages 5 to 10. Registration is not required. Each month will focus on a different mission or topic relevant to Goddard.

This program runs from September through May.

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September – NASA’s Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2)

Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, 1 – 3 p.m. ET

The Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) measures the height of a changing Earth – one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. Launched Sept. 15, 2018, ICESat-2 carries a photon-counting laser altimeter that allows scientists to measure the elevation of ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, and more – all in unprecedented detail.

Our planet’s frozen and icy areas – collectively called the cryosphere – are a key focus of NASA’s Earth science research. ICESat-2 helps scientists investigate why, and how much, our cryosphere is changing in a warming climate. The satellite also measures heights across Earth’s temperate and tropical regions, and takes stock of the vegetation in forests worldwide.

Come celebrate ICESat-2’s sixth anniversary in orbit with ICESat-2’s outreach specialists leading participants in a variety of hands-on activities. Interact with featured guest speakers ICESat-2 mission engineers and scientists.

• 3D Glacier Puzzles: Discover a fun, hands-on way to look at actual NASA data with 3D-printed models of some of the most studied glaciers on Earth. These puzzles were designed and created through a collaboration with students from the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia.
• ICESat-2 Augmented Reality (AR) Poster: Have you ever wondered what the parts of a satellite look like up close or what they are used for? You can interact with ICESat-2, through an Instagram QR code, and have the ICESat-2 satellite come to life on your mobile device.
• Biome Buddies Card Set: Learn about the different animals found in the many biomes of which ICESat-2 takes height observations. You can even assemble a puzzle of the ICESat-2 satellite on the back of the card set.
• Sea Ice Towers: Build a 3D model out of cubes using actual satellite data of Arctic sea ice from the past 50 years.
• GLOBE Observer Tree Height Outdoor Observations: Learn about the GLOBE Program’s GLOBE Observer and how you can take tree height observations with your mobile device, as well as how your ground-based tree height observations can be compared to the space-based ICESat-2 tree height observations, providing NASA scientists and student researchers with vital Earth data. An outdoor demonstration of GLOBE Observer will be available.