TOPEX/Poseidon Ground Tracks

High Resolution Jason-1 launch images

The ocean is responsible for Earth's mild climate and makes life on Earth possible for all creatures.

Growing up in landlocked Zimbabwe, NASA JPL engineer Shailen Desai was far from the ocean but still experienced its effects on the climate. Now, he is contributing to an international effort to tra...

Early morning at the launch pad

The Jason-3 satellite, launched on January 17, 2016, is allowing scientists to continue a 23-year record of crucial ocean monitoring.

One of the best ways to understand Earth's ocean is from the perspective of space.

Ice covers 10 percent of Earth's surface and helps moderate the planet's temperature.

NASA Climate Watcher Waves Goodbye

TOPEX/Poseidon Line Drawing

Sea Surface Height 01/2006-04/2010

Jason-CS/Sentinel-6 - How they will work

Changing conditions in the Pacific have stirred up Earth’s largest ocean and redistributed its heat, piling up warm waters along U.S. Western shores and raising sea level in the process.

Recorded live launch broadcast of Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich

OSTM/Jason-2 Line Drawing

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is lifted to vertical at Space Launch Complex 4

Our World: How High is the Ocean?

The ocean-observing Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Nov. 21, 2020 at 12:17 p.m. EST

These photos were taken during the Dual Payload Attach Fitting (DPAF) mating operation with Jason-1. (11/13/01) Photos: Scott Michel

Jason-1 readies for launch in its bay at Vandenberg, AFB (10/31/01)

t - 7 minutes - Photo: Tom Shain

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, topped with the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite secured inside its payload fairing, is rolled to Space Launch Complex 4

Jason-1 Poster

Jason-1: LRA instrument

Jason-1: TRSR instrument

Sea level rise is an indicator that our planet is warming. When ice on land, such as mountain glaciers or the ice sheets of Greenland or Antarctica, melts, that water contributes to sea level rise.