GRACE
GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) is a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) that consists of two identical spacecrafts orbiting the Earth in tandem formation. The mission's primary goal is to accurately measure and map the Earth's gravity field, which is essential for understanding the planet's ocean and atmospheric circulation, ice sheet dynamics, and changes in the distribution of water resources. GRACE achieves this by using a microwave ranging system to precisely measure the distance between the two spacecrafts, which varies in response to changes in the Earth's gravity field. The mission has provided unprecedented insights into the Earth's water cycle, including the depletion of groundwater resources, the melting of polar ice sheets, and the impact of climate change on the planet's hydrological systems.
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