Landsat 9 Spacecraft was launched by NASA to observe the climate changes on Earth. The satellite was carried out into space onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA), Atlas V rocket that elevated off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 2:12 p.m. EDT
The spacecraft detached from its rocket ride, about 80 minutes of takeoff.
The Launch was scheduled for September 16. It was delayed to the high demand for liquid oxygen to help treat COVID-19 patients.
NASA said that the company that supplies the liquid oxygen to the Vandenberg requested to pull more medical liquid oxygen instead, distressing the postponement in Landsat 9 launch schedule. Again the weather alarms pressed the launch back a few more days.
Landsat 9 spacecraft is a project of NASA and the United States Geological Survey. However, NASA was administering the construction and launching the satellite while United States Geological Survey will operate it and process its data.
The mission, which costs around $750 million, is the ninth satellite of the Landsat program. The mission will continue the program’s protagonist of managing and monitoring the land resources such as water, crops, and forests.
Landsat program was first launched in 1972 and providing incessant data to scientists on the ground, nearly 50 years.
The Landsat 9 satellite will replace the Landsat 7, which has been in orbit since 1999 and will work in tandem with Landsat 8, which was launched in 2013.
The Landsat 9 and Landsat 8 satellites will image the Earth every eight days.
The data composed by Landsat satellite was made public in 2008. The Landsat satellites data is an invaluable resource for monitoring climate changes. These satellites mainly focus on imaging the land. They can also track changes in the water quality and flooding, lake sizes, and can help the early recognition of algal blooms.
