(Image credit: NASA / USGS)
Landsat 1 was launched 50 years ago on July 23, 1972 aboard a Delta 900 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Since then, the Landsat satellite fleet has grown to eight and revolutionized the way we view our planet.
With 50 years of continuous observation of the Earth, Landsat presents us with an overview of how the Earth is changing, whether for natural causes such as earthquakes or for man-made changes such as urbanization.
Landsat can document everything from glacier retreat to the amount of sediment flowing into rivers. It even helps the U.S. Department of Agriculture keep track of the crops that farmers do, field by field!
Earth observation satellites continue to monitor the Earth from above and to celebrate Landsat’s 50th anniversary, let’s take a look at some of the best images captured by the eagle-eyed fleet.
Related: NASA launches Landsat 9 Earth observation satellite (photos)
This stunning image captured by Landsat 8 on July 3, 2014, shows Mount Taranaki, located in the heart of Egmont National Park in New Zealand. The snow-covered latent volcano began to form about 70,000 years ago and last erupted in 1755, according to NASA Earth Observatory (opens in a new tab).
The image of Landsat clearly shows the contrast between the dark green, leafy protected forests surrounding the volcano and the formerly wooded pastures, seen here in light brown and green.