Source: Xinhua

05-04-2009 14:07

LOS ANGELES, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Scientists from two NASA facilities -- the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Dryden Flight Center at Edwards Air Force Base -- departed on Friday on an Arctic expedition.

Global warming threatens Arctic ice(File photo)

The mission is designed to measure Arctic ice and determine through the use of new radar systems how it is affected by global warming.

The team is expected to map about 97,000 square miles (about 155,000 kilometers) of ice and land during its two-month expedition to the frozen expanses of Greenland and Iceland.

The scientists will employ two new radar technologies, both developed at the JPL, which use pulses of microwave energy to produce images of surface topography and deformations, according to a statement from the JPL, based in Pasadena, Los Angeles.

-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>