NASA and the Interior Department Monday marked the 40th anniversary of
the Landsat program, the world's longest-running Earth-observing
satellite program. The first Landsat satellite was launched July 23, 1972, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The 40-year Landsat record provides global coverage that shows
large-scale human activities such as building cities and farming. The
program is a sustained effort by the United States
to provide direct societal benefits across a wide range of human
endeavors, including human and environmental health, energy and water
management, urban planning, disaster recovery and agriculture.
Landsat images from space are not merely pictures. They contain many
layers of data collected at different points along the visible and
invisible light spectrum. A single Landsat scene taken from 400 miles
above Earth can accurately detail the condition of hundreds of thousands
of acres of grassland, agricultural crops or forests.
"Landsat has given us a critical perspective on our planet over the
long term and will continue to help us understand the big picture of
Earth and its changes from space," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "With this view we are better prepared to take action on the ground and be better stewards of our home."
In cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), a science
agency of the Interior Department, NASA launched six of the seven
Landsat satellites. The resulting archive of Earth observations forms a
comprehensive record of human and natural land changes.
"Over four decades, data from the Landsat series of satellites have
become a vital reference worldwide for advancing our understanding of
the science of the land," said Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar.
"The 40-year Landsat archive forms an indelible and objective register
of America's natural heritage and thus it has become part of this
department's legacy to the American people."
Remote-sensing satellites such as the Landsat series help scientists
to observe the world beyond the power of human sight, to monitor changes
and to detect critical trends in the conditions of natural resources.
"With its entirely objective, long term records for the entire
surface of the globe, the Landsat archive serves as the world's free
press, allowing any person, anywhere, to access vital information
without charge," said Interior's Anne Castle,
assistant secretary for water and science. "Landsat has been a game
changer for agricultural monitoring, climate change research and water
management."
NASA is preparing to launch the next Landsat satellite, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), in February 2013
from Vandeberg. LDCM will be the most technologically advanced
satellite in the Landsat series. LDCM sensors take advantage of
evolutionary advances in detector and sensor technologies to improve
performance and increase reliability. LDCM will join Landsat 5 and
Landsat 7 satellites in Earth orbit to continue the Landsat data record.
"The first 40 years of the Landsat program have delivered the most
consistent and reliable record of Earth's changing landscape," said Michael Freilich, director of NASA's Earth Science Division in the Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "We look forward to continuing this tradition of excellence with the even greater capacity and enhanced technologies of LDCM."
Source and Image Credit: NASA
