NASA Launch Commentator: "4.3.2.1 main engine start. and liftoff of the Delta II
rocket with the advanced Landsat-7 spacecraft."
Landsat 7. part of NASA's Earth-observing satellites. flawlessly launched atop a
Delta-II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. California on April 15. 1999.
As part of NASA's Earth Observing System and Earth Science Enterprise.
Landsat 7 continues the legacy of gathering Earth surface images from space.
which dates back to 1972.
The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly
managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. Landsat satellites take
specialized digital photos of Earth's continents and coastal regions.
enabling people to study our planet and evaluate the changes caused by both man
and nature.
Since the early 1970s. Landsat has continuously and consistently archived images
of Earth. creating a historical archive unmatched in quality. detail. coverage.
and length. This unparalleled data archive gives scientists the ability to assess
changes in Earth's landscape.
The Landsat 7 mission worked as expected until May 2003 when a hardware
component failure left wedge-shaped spaces of missing data on either side of its
images. However. it still acquires approximately 75 percent of the data for any
given scene. Landsat 7 continues to capture images. and has exceeded the design
expiration date. The next mission in this series is the Landsat Data Continuity
Mission. or LDCM. set to launch on an Atlas V rocket from
Vandenberg Air Force Base. California as early as late 2012.