Huge Scientific Satellite Landsat is Prepared For Launch (Picture)

On the picture technicians are seen encapsulating NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite in its payload fairing in the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California - it is planned to be launched from there this February.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is NASA's eighth satellite in the Landsat series and continues the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the resources needed for human sustainment such as food, water and forests. As our population surpasses seven billion people, the impact of human society on the planet will increase, and Landsat monitors those impacts as well as environmental changes.

The Landsat program offers the longest continuous global record of the Earth's surface; it continues to deliver visually stunning and scientifically valuable images of our planet. For 39 years now, it has collected spectral information from Earth's surface, creating a historical archive unmatched in quality, detail, coverage, and length.

The history started on July 23, 1972 when the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched, which was later renamed to Landsat. The instruments on the Landsat satellites have acquired millions of images. The images, archived in the United States and at Landsat receiving stations around the world, are a unique resource for global change research and applications in agriculture, cartography, geology, forestry, regional planning, surveillance and education.