Nasa and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) have signed an agreement to extend the gravity recovery and climate experiment (GRACE) mission through the end of its on-orbit life due in 2015.

The twin satellite mission tracks changes in the Earth’s gravitational field by noting minute changes in gravitational pull from local changes in the Earth’s mass.

GRACE maps gravity-field variations from month to month, recording changes caused by the seasons, weather patterns and short-term climate change.

DLR executive board chairman Johann-Dietrich Worner said that the extension of GRACE would deliver more valuable data to help understand how the Earth’s mass and gravity varies over time.

Under the original 2008 agreement, Nasa and DLR jointly developed GRACE and they have cooperated on its operational phase since its launch.

Nasa provided the instruments, the satellite components and archiving for the mission, while DLR supplied primary satellite components, launch services and operations.

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