Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Landsat

Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the first launch in the Landsat satellite series. Since 1972, seven Landsat satellites have been launched to gather information about Earth from space. Currently a joint venture by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Earth-observing satellite mission has helped study Earth changes made by natural processes and human practices.

To date, the Landsat series is the longest continuous global record of Earth’s surface from space. Over the past 40 years, we have actively monitored our home planet close-up, thanks to the satellite program. Topics that have been studied by Landsat include: Urban growth, food production, forest and water resource use, human health, energy production, disaster relief, and climate change.

Landsat has been fundamental to our scientific understanding of the Earth. Originally, the data gathered was used to inventory Earth’s natural resources from space. Today, the Landsat program has grown to address critical issues such as water quality, glacier recessions, sea ice movement, massive species encroachment, deforestation, land use changes, coral reef health, population growth, and damages from natural disasters. More >>

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