Officials from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will discuss next months planned launch of the Landsat 9 satellite during a media briefing at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday, Aug. 31.
The Landsat 9 launch is targeted for no earlier than Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021.The media briefing will air live on NASA TV, theNASA app, and the agencyswebsite.
Data from Landsat 9 will add to nearly 50 years of free and publicly available data from the Landsat program. The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA/USGS program. Researchers harmonize Landsat data to detect the footprint of human activities and measure the effects of climate change on land over decades.
Once fully operational in orbit, Landsat 9 will replace Landsat 7 and join its sister satellite, Landsat 8, in continuing to collect data from across the planet every eight days. This calibrated data will continue the Landsat programs critical role in monitoring land use and helping decision-makers manage essential resources including crops, water resources, and forests.
Briefing participants, in speaking order, are:
- Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science Division
- Del Jenstrom, Landsat 9 project manager at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland
- Jeff Masek, Landsat 9 project scientist at Goddard
- David Applegate, acting director of USGS
- Birgit Peterson, geographer at USGS
- Inbal Becker-Reshef, director of NASAs Harvest food security and agriculture program.
