Grace Follow-On
LISA technology is now being used for Earth observation and will improve future satellite geodesy missions. GRACE Follow-On observes the critical indicators of climate change through changes in Earth's gravitational field. The mission successfully launched into Earth orbit on the 22nd of May 2018 from Vandenberg, California. First observational data were received in the summer of 2018.
Where is the water? Studying climate change with gravitation
Satellite gravity missions are the only way to monitor the mass distribution and the change of the mass distribution of the whole Earth. Scientists of the special collaborative research project geo-Q study these topics with the GRACE Follow-On mission.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfs8Fl8pHEg
Images
GRACE Follow-On is a tandem of two satellites, circling the Earth separated by 220 kilometers in the same orbit 490 kilometers above ground. It measures inter-satellite distances with microwaves (blue) and a new laser interferometer (red).
© Earth: NASA “Blue Marble”, satellites: D. Schütze (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics)
