The US Geological Survey will soon shut down Landsat 5, an observational satellite that has been running since 1984. Landsat 5 was designed for a three-year run, but it's now orbited the Earth over 150,000 times and transmitted 2.5 million images in nearly three decades, making it the longest-running Earth-observing satellite, though not the oldest satellite still in orbit. "Any major event since 1984 that left a mark on this Earth larger than a football field was likely recorded by Landsat 5, whether it was a hurricane, a tsunami, a wildfire, deforestation, or an oil spill," says USGS Director Marcia McNutt.
It's also malfunctioned several times in the past, sometimes temporarily going out of commission while being stabilized. On...
via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/26/3805538/landsat-5-longest-running-usgs-observational-satellite-shutting-down
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