NEW EYE IN THE SKY

Recently, NASA has launched an earth monitoring satellite called Landsat 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The satellite is a joint mission of NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS).
This satellite is referred to as NASA’s’ new eye in the sky’ that will help study climate change.

Important points:

Landsat-9 is the continuation of a series of Earth-observing spacecraft stretching back almost 50 years.
The first Landsat satellite was launched in 1972 and since then, Landsat satellites have collected images of earth and helped understand how land usage has changed over the decades.
In 2008, it was decided that all Landsat images will be free and publicly available and the policy has helped scores of researchers, farmers, policy analysts, glaciologists, and seismologists.
Landsat images have been used to study the health of forests, coral reefs, monitor water quality and melting glaciers.
The Landsat 9 joins Landsat 8 that was launched in 2013 and the satellites together will collect images of Earth’s surface.
It takes 8 days to capture the whole Earth.
Landsat 9 carries instruments similar to the other Landsat satellites, but it is the most technologically advanced satellite of its generation.

Sentinel Satellites

It is a family of satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the Copernicus Programme.
The Copernicus Programme is the Earth Observation Programme managed by the ESA, launched in 1998.
It was named after the scientist and observer Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus’ theory of the heliocentric (sun-centric) universe made a pioneering contribution to modern science.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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