(Image credit: NASA/USGS)
Landsat 1 launched 50 years ago on July 23, 1972, aboard a Delta 900 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Since then, the fleet of Landsat satellites has grown to eight and revolutionized the way we view our planet.
With 50 years of continuous Earth observation, Landsat presents us with a global view of how Earth is changing, whether from natural causes such as Earthquakes or human-driven change such as urbanization.
Landsat can document everything from retreating glaciers to how much sediment is flowing in rivers. It even helps the United States Department of Agriculture track what crops farmers are growing, field by field!
The Earth-observing satellites continue to monitor Earth from above and to celebrate 50 years of Landsat, we 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 striking image captured by Landsat 8 on July 3, 2014, shows Mt. Taranaki, located in the heart of the Egmont National Park in New Zealand. The snowcapped dormant volcano began forming about 70,000 years ago and last erupted in 1755, according to NASA Earth Observatory (opens in new tab).Â
The Landsat image clearly shows the contrast between protected lush dark green forests that surround the volcano and the once-forested pasturelands, seen here in light brown and green.Â
