Watch video of Atlas V rocket blasting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base
New video shows the successful and historic NASA launch on Monday of Landsat 9, a satellite designed to track impacts on Earth, such as climate change.
NASA said the satellite will “continue a nearly 50-year legacy of monitoring the health of our planet,” and will “help people manage Earth’s natural resources with science-based decisions.”
The launch was a joint mission with the US Geological Survey (USGS). The video shows the liftoff from a foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County and satellite separation from the rocket’s upper stage more than an hour later.
Landsat 9 was carried into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
Landsat 9 carries an imaging sensor that will record visible and other portions of the spectrum. It also has a thermal sensor to measure surface temperatures.
Capturing changes in the planet’s landscape ranging from the growth of cities to the movements of glaciers, the Landsat program is the longest continuous record of Earth observation from space, according to NASA.
Scientists and forest managers also use Landsat data to measure the impact of wildfires.
Landsat 9’s liftoff was the 2,000th launch from Vandenberg since 1958.
Associated Press and Storyful contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Watch video of Atlas V rocket blasting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base."
