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ASIRAS, a new ESA airborne instrument sees ice for the first time   Artist's impression of the CryoSat satellite in orbit. The launch of the CryoSat spacecraft was unfortunately aborted on 8 October 2005 due to a malfunction of its Rockot launcher, which resulted in the total loss of the spacecraft.
At the latest meeting of the European Space Agency's Earth Observation Programme Board, which took place at ESA’s Headquarters in Paris on 23 and 24 February 2006, ESA received the green light from its Member States to build and launch a CryoSat recovery mission, CryoSat-2.  View of Svalbard from the aircraft during the ASIRAS testing campaign in March 2004.  A corner reflector, which is a device used to calibrate the ASIRAS instrument, is installed on the fjord ice near Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway.  The instrument rack inside the aircraft holding the electronics for the ASIRAS and laser scanning instruments.  The German Space Agency (DLR) Dornier 228 plane getting ready for a test flight over Svalbard during the ASIRAS testing campaign in March 2004. Release date: 9 August 2005 |