Satellite launched to measure motions of the oceans

A new satellite built to extend a 24-year series of joint U.S.-European ocean observatories climbed away from a foggy California launch pad and sailed into orbit more than 800 miles above Earth on Sunday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The Jason 3 satellite is kicking off a five-year mission to precisely measure ocean waves, maritime winds, ocean currents and sea level rise for a consortium of scientific institutions in the United States and Europe. The spacecraft lifted off at 10:42:18 a.m. PST (1:42:18 p.m. EST; 1842:18 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the primary U.S. launch site for polar orbiting satellites. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jan 18)