Earth as art: the top five Landsat images
As we mark Landsat's 40th birthday, we present you with some of the best images ever created by this Earth-monitoring satellite program.
As we mark Landsat's 40th birthday, we present you with some of the best images ever created by this Earth-monitoring satellite program.
NASA鈥檚 first Earth-observing Landsat satellite launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on July 23, 1972, and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the program they asked the public to vote on their favorite images of the planet from the Landsat聽Earth as Art聽gallery. After over 14,000 votes, these were chosen as the top 5 favorites. Happy 40th anniversary, Landsat!
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.
鈥淟andsat 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,鈥� said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. 鈥淲ith this view we are better prepared to take action on the ground and be better stewards of our home.鈥�
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.
鈥淥ver 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,鈥� said Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar. 鈥淭he 40-year Landsat archive forms an indelible and objective register of America鈥檚 natural heritage and thus it has become part of this department鈥檚 legacy to the American people.鈥�
The next satellite in the series, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is scheduled to launch on February 11, 2013.
(Source: NASA/GSFC)
Find out more about the ongoing Landsat mission here, and see recent visualizations from Landsat on the USGS site here.
Jason Major is a graphic artist from聽Rhode Island聽now living and working in聽Dallas, Texas. He writes about astronomy and space exploration on his blog聽Lights In The Dark, on Universe Today and also onDiscovery聽News.
This story originally appeared in聽Universe Today.
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