Delta II ICESat-2 Interstage Lift and Mate

Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United Launch Alliance (ULA) workers assist as the Delta II interstage is lowered and mated to the booster, or first stage, on June 12, 2018. NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will launch on the final Delta II rocket. ICESat-2 will measure the height of a changing Earth, one laser pulse at a time, 10,000 laser pulses a second. The satellite will carry a single instrument, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System. ICESat-2 will help scientists investigate why, and how much our planet's frozen and icy areas, called the cryosphere, is changing in a warming climate.