NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) recently received approval for continuation of operation following the completion of its primary 3-year mission to measure the height of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland. Launched into Low Earth Orbit in September 2018, ICESat-2 is capable of making extremely precise location and elevation measurements with its only science instrument, which is called the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System, or ATLAS. ATLAS works by sending laser pulses at exactly 532 nanometers in wavelength towards the surface 10,000 times per second and recording how many pulses are reflected as well as the time it takes them to be received to within a billionth of a second. This level of precision enables measurements of the Earth’s surface beneath the satellite to within about an inch. The data collected by the satellite informs scientists of the effects of climate change on the polar regions as well as other regions on the planet.