Landsat: The Longest Running Earth Imaging Program
With satellites in orbit since 1972, the Landsat program is the longest running Earth observation program. The Earth imaging program, originally created to investigate Earth’s landmass, has contributed to a wide range of subjects, from the natural sciences to the social sciences. Since the first satellite imagery of Landsat 1 in 1972, several Landsat satellites have been launched with the ability to take increasingly detailed images of our world. These two images show an increase in image resolution and sensor data quality on the Landsat Silicon Valley imagery located in Northern California. The image on the left is a Landsat 1 image obtained in 1972 and the image on the left is a Landsat 8 image obtained in 2016. Landsat 1 (left) satellite image from 1972 and Landsat 8 (right) satellite image from 2016 in Silicon Valley in Northern California. Landsat Satellite Launch Timeline Landsat launch timeline. Graphics: Caitlin Dempsey. Landsat 1 The first Landsat satellite was launched on