NASA cheers new Landsat launch Program beams back dramatic
images of Earth NASA put its newest Landsat satellite into orbit
on Monday, extending a long-running program that has been
beaming back dramatic images of Earth for more than 40 years.
The Landsat Data Continuity Mission -- to be designated Landsat
8, once it's up and running -- lifted off from California's
Vandenberg Air Force Base atop an Atlas V booster. The $855
million platform, about the size of a sport-utility vehicle, has
been in the works for years amid concerns about maintaining the
U.S. suite of geoscience satellites. The first Landsat mission
went into orbit in 1972; the last working mission, Landsat 7,
was launched in 1999. It's still sending back images long after
its five-year life expectancy, but suffers from a scanner
problem that leaves black diagonal streaks across them. Landsat
5 sent back its last images in January after nearly 29 years; it
had been designed to last three. The new mission's solar panels
deployed successfully after