This is the moment the Landsat 9 satellite which will be used to monitor climate change from outer space is launched by NASA.

The Landsat 9 is expected to continue the 50-year continuous record of global imagery that began with the first launch of a Landsat satellite in 1972.

The Landsat 9 can be seen on top of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket as it blasts off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on 27th September.

In the footage, which was shared by the United States Geological Survey, the Atlas rocket and its precious satellite payload quickly disappear into the clouds as they speed towards outer space.

Landsat 9 will settle into an orbit that takes it over the planet's poles, at an altitude of 705 kilometres (438 miles).

Karen St. Germain, head of NASA's Earth Science Division, said: "Landsat tells us about the Earth's vegetation, land use, coastlines and surface water, just to name a few."

She added: "When combined with other Earth science missions, that can tell us what is happening and also why."

Jeff Masek, NASA's Landsat 9 project scientist, said: "We've assembled an amazing history of how the planet has changed over the last half-century."

He added: "For example, we're able to see the natural disturbances that occur, (such as) fires, hurricanes, and insect outbreaks, and then the long-term recovery of ecosystems that takes place for decades after that."

Landsat is a part of the USGS National Land Imaging (NLI) Program.

Landsat data is processed and hosted at the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center.

27 September 2021; Vandenberg Space Force Base in California; Source: USGS

#NASA #Satellite #ClimateChange

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