USGS - science for a changing world

NASA

USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Landsat Missions

For a better search experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

Landsat Missions Timeline

Return to Landsat Missions Timeline

Landsat 1 History

July 23, 1972 - January 6, 1978

Previous | Next

Landsat 1

Figure 1. Landsat 1

Participants

NASA
Department of the Interior (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Manufacturer: General Electric's (GE’s) Space Division in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Launch

Date: July 23, 1972
Vehicle: Delta 900
Launched by: NASA
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Spacecraft

Weight: approximately 953 kg (2,100 lbs)
Overall height: 3 m (10 ft)
Diameter: 1.5 m (5 ft)
Solar array paddles extend out to a total of 4 m (13 ft)
3-axis stabilized using 4 wheels to +/-0.7° attitude control
Twin solar array paddles (single-axis articulation)
S-Band and Very High Frequency (VHF) communications
Hydrazine propulsion system with 3 thrusters

Communications

Direct downlink from 2, 30 minute wide-band video tape recorders
Data rate: 15 Mbps
Quantization: 6 bit (64 levels)

Orbit

Worldwide Reference System-1 (WRS-1) path/row system
Sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit at an altitude of 917 km (570 mi)
Inclined at 99.2°
Circled the Earth every 103.34 minutes
Completed 14 orbits per day
Repeat cycle: 18 days
Swath width: 185 km (115 mi)
Equatorial crossing time: 9:30 a.m. +/- 15 minutes
Swath overlap (or sidelap) varied from 14 percent at the Equator to a maximum of approximately 85 percent at 81° north or south latitude

Sensors
Return Beam Vidicon (RBV)

Operated from July 23, 1972 to August 5, 1972, recording only 1692 images
80 meter-ground resolution
Three cameras operating in the following spectral bands:
- Band 1 Visible blue-green (475-575 nm)
- Band 2 Visible orange-red (580-680 nm)
- Band 3 Visible red to Near-Infrared (690-830 nm)
Data: 3.5 MHz FM video

Multispectral Scanner (MSS)

80-meter ground resolution in four spectral bands:
- Band 4 Visible green (0.5 to 0.6 µm)
- Band 5 Visible red (0.6 to 0.7 µm)
- Band 6 Near-Infrared (0.7 to 0.8 µm)
- Band 7 Near-Infrared (0.8 to 1.1 µm)
Six detectors for each spectral band provided six scan lines on each active scan
Ground Sampling Interval (pixel size): 57 x 79 m

Other Characteristics

Scene size: 170 km x 185 km (106 mi x 115 mi)
Originally named ERTS-A (Earth Resources Technology Satellite); also known as ERTS-1 and Landsat-1
Program renamed Landsat in 1975
Design Life: Minimum of 1 year

Previous | Next

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://landsat.usgs.gov
Page Contact Information: Ask Landsat
Page Last Modified: 04/22/11 11:13 am
Sitemap