For half a century, the Landsat mission has shown us Earth from space. Now, come along with us on a “roadtrip” through the decades to see how the technology on this NASA and U.S. Geological Survey partnership has evolved with the times to provide an unbroken data record.
Our roadtrip begins with the idea for an Earth-observing sensor in the 1960s and then cruises through the first game-changing launches in the 1970s, the advent of natural color composite images in the 1980s, the increased global coverage in the 1990s, the move to free and open data archives in the 2000s, the modern era of Landsat observations in the 2010s, and now the launch of Landsat 9 in 2021. Landsat satellites have allowed us to better manage our natural resources, and will continue to help people track the effects of climate change into the future.
The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Landsat satellites have been consistently gathering data about our planet since 1972. They continue to improve and expand this unparalleled record of Earth’s changing landscapes for the benefit of all.
Music: –Silent Soul by Stanislaw Syrewicz [PRS], published by Atmosphere Music Ltd. [PRS];
–Raspberry Sunshine by Mickey Bruce [PRS] and Treana Morris [PRS], published by Ninja Tune Production Music;
–Welcome In The Team by Paul Tyan [SACEM], published by Koka Media; –Shall We Play A Game? by Sebastian Barnaby Robertson [BMI] and Tristan Calder [ASCAP], published by Killer Tracks Soundcast Music;
–Lisa and Bart by Laurent Tierry-Mieg [SACEM] and Thierry Durbet [SACEM];
–Stars by Claude Pelouse [SACEM], published by Koka Media;
–Royale Time by Jacob Paul Turner [BMI] and Sebastian Barnaby Robertson [BMI], published by Killer Tracks. All tracks are available from Universal Production Music.
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
