In addition to transmitting images with higher resolution than its predecessors, Landsat 9 can see a greater number of colors to help showcase subtle changes in terrain: more than 16,000 shades of a given wavelength color compared to Landsat 7’s 256. Meanwhile, its Thermal Infrared Sensor will measure Earth’s surface temperature fluctuations by detecting two wavelengths of thermal radiation. Landsat 9’s Operational Land Imager can capture visible, near-infrared and shortwave-infrared light in nine wavelengths. In the top middle section of the image, the Mitchell River carves through sandstone, while to the left Bigge Island and the Coronation Islands stand out in the Indian Ocean. The first image collected by Landsat 9 shows remote coastal islands and inlets of the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Each satellite will collect some 750 distinct images of Earth daily, imaging the entire planet every eight days. Landsat 9 will work in tandem with Landsat 8, which has enough gas to last for another couple of years. NASA hopes to refuel Landsat 7 once it lowers its orbit-not to keep the satellite going, but to ensure it has enough gas to be safely eased out of space for good. Once Landsat 9 passes all of its checks, it will take over Landsat 7’s orbit, and the older spacecraft will officially be decommissioned. Indeed, Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 with a planned mission of five years, is still operating today. Landsat’s planned mission has a duration of just five years, but it has the fuel to continue for an additional decade beyond that if it continues to function. Once those quality controls are complete, NASA will hand control of the satellite over to USGS. The new orbiter is currently in the midst of a 100-day trial period so NASA can test its systems and calibrate its instruments. “NASA will continue to work with USGS to strengthen and improve accessibility to Landsat data so decision makers in America-and around the world-better understand the devastation of the climate crisis, manage agricultural practices, preserve precious resources, and respond more effectively to natural disasters.” Geological Survey that provides critical data about Earth’s landscapes and coastlines seen from space,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. “Landsat 9’s first images capture critical observations about our changing planet and will advance this joint mission of NASA and the U.S. In warmer months, Landsat 9 will be able to see dangerous algae blooms. The Great Lakes serve as sources of freshwater, recreational activity, transport, and habitat for the upper-midwestern US. Clair in this Landsat 9 image of both Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, from Oct. Sediments swirl in Lake Erie and Lake St. With nearly half a century of data collection behind it, the Landsat program-which actually includes the work of just eight orbiters, as Landsat 6 failed to launch in 1993-aims to aid in the management of natural resources and help understand and mitigate the effects of climate change. The orbiter’s first images show a smattering of Earth’s changing landscapes: the sediment-swirled Great Lakes near Detroit, Michigan the mangrove-dotted inlets and bays of the northwest coast of Australia the shifting beaches and cities of the Florida Panhandle drought-prone swaths of the Navajo Nation in the Western US and the melting glaciers of the Asian Himalayas. On Friday the agencies released its very first photos of our planet, which it collected while traveling around 16,760 miles per hour some 438 miles above Earth. Geological Survey (USGS) jointly launched Landsat 9, a cutting-edge Earth observation satellite, for a five-year mission.
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