ICESat/CHIPSat Launch Rescheduled

	Artist concept of ICESat in orbit

The launch of NASA's ICESat and CHIPsat spacecraft aboard a Boeing Delta II expendable launch vehicle from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been postponed for no earlier than Jan. 8, 2003.

During a review of test data, a problem within an ordnance box was found. The difficulty is associated with the signal this unit provides for launch vehicle devices to unlatch and separate the payload fairing. The removal and replacement of this unit and the associated retest will take approximately two weeks.

ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) is the benchmark Earth Observing System mission for measuring ice sheet mass balance, cloud and aerosol heights as well as land topography and vegetation characteristics. The ICESat mission will provide multi-year elevation data needed to determine ice sheet mass balance as well as cloud property information, especially for stratospheric clouds common over polar areas. It will also provide topography and vegetation data around the globe, in addition to the polar-specific coverage over the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.