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LANDSAT 7
In 1992, the US Congress authorized the procurement, launch and operation of a new Landsat satellite. This new system, Landsat 7, was launched on April 15, 1999. It is the latest in a series of Landsat earth observation satellites dating back to 1972. The twenty-nine year record of data acquired by the Landsat satellites constitutes the longest continuous record of the earth's continental surfaces. Preservation of the existing record and continuation of the Landsat capability were identified in the law as critical to land surface monitoring and global change research. Landsat 7 has a unique and essential role in the realm of earth observing satellites in orbit. No other earth observing system matches Landsat's combination of synoptic coverage, high spatial resolution, spectral range and radiometric calibration. In addition, the Landsat Program is committed to provide Landsat digital data to the user community in greater quantities, more quickly and at lower cost than at any previous time in the history of the program. The Landsat 7 spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The ETM+ instrument is a product of Hughes Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Construction of both was managed through contracts between the manufacturers and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. The Landsat Program, as defined by Congress in 1992 and amended by Presidential Decision Directive/NSTC-3 in May, 1994, was managed cooperatively by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the USGS. NASA was responsibility for construction of the spacecraft and instrument. The Landsat Program is part of the NASA's global change initiative - the Earth Observing System, administered by the NASA Office of Mission to Planet Earth. NOAA no longer participates in the Landsat 7 program. Landsat 7 is now operated by USGS. Data processing, archiving and distribution is performed by USGS. These functions will be executed in coordination with the EDC Distributed Active Archive Center (EDC DAAC) of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) at EDC. For more information on Landsat and Landsat 7, see: "http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/" and "http://landsat7.usgs.gov/index.php" For more information on the Earth Observing System (EOS), see: "http://eospso.gsfc.nasa.gov/"