Earth's gravity from space

Twin GRACE spacecraft being deployed from Breeze

Global ocean conveyor belt of warm and cold water is explained.

One of the GRACE satellites undergoes thermal testing at IABG in Germany.

Measuring Earth's Gravity from Space exhibit

GRACE being readied for launch - 2

These images show the changes in gravity anomalies from GRACE over the Amazon Basin for each month of 2004. 

This image shows the mean annual amplitude of total water storage on Earth in 2007 as measured by GRACE.

The original GRACE satellites in a clean room in Germany.

GRACE being readied for launch - 1

GPS signal occultation by the atmosphere, and the resulting useful data is explained.

Research based on GRACE observations indicates that between 2002 and 2021, Greenland shed approximately 280 gigatons of ice per year.

Between 2002 and 2020, Antarctica shed approximately 150 gigatons of ice per year, causing global sea level to rise by 0.4 millimeters per year.

One of the twin GRACE satellites, Flight Model 1, is seen on a trolley during construction in Germany.

One of the twin GRACE spacecraft is seen during construction in Germany.

The GRACE satellites are seen at an IABG testing facility in Germany.

GRACE mission pre-launch poster

The twin GRACE satellites are seen in a clean room in Germany in 2002.

The amount of water stored in the Amazon basin varies from month to month, and can be monitored from space by looking at how it alters Earth's gravity field.

This animation illustrates the movements of the two GRACE-FO satellites as they orbit Earth.

This animation shows the annual water storage changes over the U.S. from GRACE from 2003 - 2013.

GRACE logo

GRACE on orbit

GRACE on orbit - 1

The mass of the Polar ice sheets have changed over the last decades. Research based on observations from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites (2002-2017) and GRACE Follow-...

This visualization of a gravity model was created with data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and shows variations in Earth’s gravity field.