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The Ice, Cloud and land Elevation-2 (ICESat-2) will add the third dimension to our study of Earth.

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ICESat-2 will measure the height of ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice with an unprecedented level of precision and detail.

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To do this, ICESat-2 will fly the most advanced laser altimeter NASA has ever launched.

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The laser fires 10,000 pulses of light a second.

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The instrument measures the time of flight of individual photons, down to Earth and back, within a billionth of a second.

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With this new technology, ICESat-2 will track annual ice sheet change to a fraction of a centimeter.

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Measuring the height of our polar regions will reveal ice mass changes

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and help us forecast how these changes will impact sea level and climate beyond the poles.

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