NASA has cleared its latest highly effective Earth-observing satellite tv for pc for a launch into orbit from the California coast on Monday (Sept. 27).
The satellite tv for pc, referred to as Landsat 9, is on monitor to carry off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base atop an Atlas V rocket supplied by the United Launch Alliance. Liftoff is focused for two:12 p.m. EDT (11:12 a.m. PDT or 1812 GMT)
“The spacecraft, the Atlas V rocket, all range equipment, are ready,” NASA launch director Tim Dunn advised reporters in a press convention Saturday (Sept. 25). The mission has a 30-minute window through which to carry off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex 3E, he added.
Four small cubesats will even launch into orbit with Landsat 9. Two will research the photo voltaic wind and exoplanet atmospheres as a part of NASA analysis. Two others are flying undisclosed missions for the U.S. Space Force, Dunn stated.
In pictures: Earth Pictures From Space: Landsat Satellite Legacy
Landsat 9 would be the ninth and most superior satellite tv for pc to check Earth from above for the Landsat program, a joint effort by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey that has supplied fixed imagery of our planet for almost 50 years. It carries a high-resolution digicam and a delicate infrared sensor that collectively can picture the Earth throughout 11 spectral bands and resolve objects all the way down to about 50 toes (15 meters) extensive. The satellite tv for pc ought to orbit the Earth at altitude of about 438 miles (705 kilometers) over the planet’s poles.
“For nearly 50 years, Landsat satellites have documented Earth’s changing landscape,” Michael Egan, NASA’s Landsat program supervisor, stated within the press convention. “Landsat 9 will improve and expand upon this unparalleled record of our home planet.”
Landsat 9 will be capable to picture the whole Earth each 16 days. When mixed with knowledge from its predecessor Landsat 8, which launched in 2013 and remains to be in use as we speak, the 2 satellites can cowl the whole Earth each eight days, Egan stated. Landsat 9 is designed to final not less than 5 years in orbit and exchange the growing older Landsat 7, which can be in use as we speak.
Landsat satellites have been learning the Earth since 1972. That steady protection is essential to monitoring Earth’s adjustments, particularly because the planet experiences extra excessive climate, highly effective storms, fires and different results from local weather change, mission officers stated.
“As we know, climate change is real,” stated Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science on the Department of the Interior within the press convention. “The Landsat program is an excellent tool to help guide our efforts to understand and document the changes we are seeing on a daily basis.”
Northrop Grumman constructed the $750 million Landsat 9 for NASA, with the mission’s staff shaving about $90 million off its preliminary finances, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA’s affiliate administrator for science missions, advised reporters Saturday.
It’s been an extended street to the launchpad for Landsat 9. The satellite tv for pc was initially speculated to launch on Sept. 16, but was delayed to Sept. 23 as a consequence of a liquid nitrogen scarcity associated to the continued COVID-19 pandemic. High winds prompted one other delay to Sept. 27.
The mission will even launch a minute later than deliberate to keep away from a collision likelihood with NASA’s Calypso/CloudSat satellite tv for pc in orbit, Dunn stated. Currently, climate forecasts predict a 60% likelihood of fine situations at launch time.
If NASA and the United Launch Alliance are unable to launch Landsat 9 on Monday, a backup launch window is obtainable on Tuesday, with comparable climate situations anticipated.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@area.com or comply with him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
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