The NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission, launched in March 2002, revolutionized our understanding of Earth's gravitational field and its impact on our planet's climate and water resources. GRACE consisted of a pair of twin satellites in a near-polar orbit, working in tandem to measure variations in Earth's gravity.
GRACE's ingenious concept involved precisely tracking the distance between the two satellites as they orbited Earth. Variations in gravitational pull caused by changes in the distribution of mass, such as melting ice caps or groundwater depletion, would affect this distance, allowing scientists to create highly detailed gravity maps of our planet.
This groundbreaking mission provided critical data on ice sheet dynamics, ocean currents, and groundwater storage, enhancing our understanding of Earth's changing climate and its effects on sea level rise and regional water resources.
