This Envisat image shows the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica and reveals a crack in the glacier’s tongue about 25 km long. The image was acquired by Envisat’s radar on 6 April 2012, just two days before contact with the satellite was lost.

Over its ten-year lifetime, Envisat’s radar imagery was constantly used to monitor ice in the Antarctic. Satellite radars are particularly useful over polar regions because they can see through clouds and darkness.