Landsat
The Landsat is the longest running programme of NASA. The Landsat satellite sends images of the earth to the base stations. These images are major resources for research, education, surveillance, applications in agriculture, geology, cartography, forestry and regional planning.
About Landsat
- The Landsat was launched in 1972.
- At first, it was launched in the name of Earth Resources Technology Satellite. Later, in 1975, it was renamed as Landsat.
- The Landsat 9 satellite was launched in September 2021.
- The Landsat images (Images have been named scenes) are divided small scenes for easy downloading. These scenes are 115 miles long and 115 miles wide.
Landsat 1
- The Landsat 1 was launched in 1972. It was the first satellite to be launched under the Landsat programme of the United States. It was a modified version of the Nimbus 4.
- It was the first satellite to carry a multispectral scanner.
- It provided information on mineral resources, geology, agricultural and forestry resources, water resources, environmental pollution, marine resources, meteorological phenomena, etc.
Landsat 2
- It was launched in 1975.
- The main objective of Landsat 2 was to acquire earth data in medium resolution. Landsat 2 was ended in 1982.
Landsat 3
- The Landsat 3 was launched in 1978.
- The earlier satellites were managed with the help of private companies. Unlike the earlier satellites, Landsat 3 was solely managed by NASA.
- It was decommissioned in 1983.
- It was used by more than 31 countries. These countries used Landsat 3 to determine the natural resources in their lands.
Landsat 4
- The Landsat 4 was launched in 1982.
- The main objective of the satellite was to transmit scientific data. The mission aimed at earth imaging.
- The satellite lost half of its solar power in 1983. Because of this, it couldn’t send data to the earth. This led to the early launch of Landsat 5
Landsat 5
- It was launched in 1984.
- The main objective of Landsat 5 was to collect images of the earth. It was decommissioned in 2013.
- Landsat 5 was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the longest running Earth Observatory satellite. The satellite has orbited the earth more than 150,000 times. And it had transmitted 2.5 million images.
Landsat 6
- The Landsat 6 was launched in 1993.
- It was launched in Titan II launch vehicle. However, it failed to reach the orbit. This was because of the explosion that occurred in the liquid fuel system of the satellite.
Landsat 7
- The Landsat 7 was launched in 1999.
- The primary goal of the satellite was to provide cloud free images of the earth. It refreshed the global archive of satellite images.
- It was managed and operated by the US Geological Survey.
- The Earth Observing – 1 was the companion of Landsat 7. It trailed Landsat 7 by one minute. However, it was decommissioned in 2011 due to fuel depletion.
- In 2020, NASA announced refueling Landsat 7 under the OSAM-1 mission. This was the first time NASA announced about refueling a live satellite. However, it couldn’t be achieved and Landsat 7 is to be decommissioned in 2021.
Landsat 8
- Landsat 8 is an Earth Observation satellite. It was launched in 2013.
- It holds thermal infrared sensor and operational land imager that are used to study the earth surface temperature. Also, these equipment are used to study global warming.
The three main objectives of Landsat 8 are as follows:
- To collect medium resolution multispectral data of the global landmasses for a period of five years
- To ensure that the data are sufficiently consistent from the earlier Landsat missions in terms of spectra characteristics, geometry, coverage characteristics.
- To distribute data products to the general public
Landsat 9
- The Landsat 9 is an earth observation satellite. It was launched in September 2021. It is operated by the United States Geological Survey.
- Landsat 9 was designed and constructed by NASA.
- The Landsat 9 largely replicates the functions of Landsat 8.
- It holds thermal infrared sensor, operational land imager, and optical and thermal sensors.
