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Landsat Missions Timeline

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Landsat 4 History

July 16, 1982 – December 14, 1993

(Decommissioned June 15, 2001)

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Landsat 4

Figure 1. Landsat 4

Participants

NASA
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Earth Observation Satellite Company (EOSAT)
Department of the Interior (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Launch

Date: July 16, 1982
Vehicle: Delta 3920
Launched by: NASA
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Spacecraft

3-axis stabilized, zero momentum with control of 0.01 deg using reaction wheels
Aluminum with graphite struts
Hydrazine propulsion system
Single solar array with 1-axis articulation
Three Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) batteries provide 100 Ampere-Hour (AHr ) total
Retractable boom (4 m long) with 2 powered joints supports the articulated High Gain Antenna, which downlinked data via the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS)
Weight: approximately 4,300 lbs (1,942 kg)

Communications

Direct downlink with TDRSS
Data rate: 85 Mbps
Communications system uses S, X, L, and Ku Bands
Quantization: 8 bit (256 levels)

Orbit

Worldwide References System-2 (WRS-2) path/row system
Circular, sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit at an altitude of 705 km (438 mi)
Inclined at 98.2°
Circled the Earth every 99 minutes
Repeat cycle: 16 days
Equatorial crossing time: 9:45 a.m. +/- 15 minutes
Swath width: 185 km (115 mi)

Sensors
Multispectral Scanner (MSS)

Four spectral bands (identical to Landsat 1 and 2):

Band 4 Visible (0.5 to 0.6 µm)
Band 5 Visible (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)

Data: 100 kHz digital
Six detectors for each reflective band provided six scan lines on each active scan
Ground Sampling Interval (pixel size): 57 x 79 m

Thematic Mapper (TM)

Added the mid-range infrared to the data
Seven spectral bands, including a thermal band:

Band 1 Visible (0.45 – 0.52 µm) 30 m
Band 2 Visible (0.52 – 0.60 µm) 30 m
Band 3 Visible (0.63 – 0.69 µm) 30 m
Band 4 Near-Infrared (0.76 – 0.90 µm) 30 m
Band 5 Near-Infrared (1.55 – 1.75 µm) 30 m
Band 6 Thermal (10.40 – 12.50 µm) 120 m
Band 7 Mid-Infrared (IR) (2.08 – 2.35 µm) 30 m

Ground Sampling Interval (pixel size): 30 m reflective, 120 m thermal

Other Characteristics

Scene size: 170 km x 185 km (106 mi x 115 mi)
Also known as Landsat-D
Design Life: Minimum of 3 years

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URL: http://landsat.usgs.gov
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