Important Areas in the Development of Landsat 8

These images show areas of the United States that played pivitol roles in the creation, implementation, and ongoing support of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). LDCM was renamed Landsat 8 after a successful launch on February 11, 2013. 

From top to bottom: 

Greenbelt, Maryland — NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), located in Greenbelt, Maryland was responsible for overall mission development and integration for the LDCM, as well as designing and building the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS).  These images, created from data collected from the OLI sensor aboard the satellite, show Greenbelt and the surrounding the area. (Data acquired April 2, 2013) Left: Full scene; Middle: Zoom displaying the Washington DC area (including Greenbelt, in upper right corner); Right: Zoom displaying the Gov. Harry Nice Memorial Bridge between Virginia and Maryland. (All images are False color composite (Bands 6,5,4)

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California — LDCM was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on February 11, 2013. These images, created from data collected from the OLI sensor aboard the satellite, show the area surrounding Vandenberg. (Data acquired March 22, 2013) Left: Full scene; Middle: Zoom displaying Vandenberg Air Force Base, Vandenberg Village, and Lompoc, CA; Right: Zoom displaying the Vandenberg Air Force Base and runway. (All images are False color composite (bands 6,5,4)

Phoenix, Arizona — The LDCM spacecraft was built at Orbital Sciences Corporation’s spacecraft manufacturing facility in Gilbert, Arizona. These images, created from data collected from the OLI sensor aboard the satellite, show Gilbert and the surrounding area. (Data acquired March 21, 2013) Left: Full scene; Middle: Zoom displaying the urban area of Gilbert, AZ; Right: Zoom displaying open-pit copper mines east of Gilbert. (All images are natural color composite (bands 4,3,2)

Sioux Falls, South Dakota — The USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center near Sioux Falls, South Dakota manages the archive of Landsat data. EROS is also the Landsat Ground Station, which receives, processes, archives and provides Landsat data products to users worldwide. These images, created from data collected from the OLI sensor, show the Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. ( Data acquired March 30, 2013) Left: Full scene; Middle: Zoom displaying the urban area of Sioux Falls, SD; Right: Zoom displaying early spring lakes near Madison, SD. (All images are natural color composite (bands 4,3,2)