Landsat 3
Artist's rendering of Landsat 3.
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| Mission type | Earth imaging |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 1978-026A[1] |
| SATCAT № | 10702[1] |
| Mission duration | 5 years, 6 months, 2 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | Nimbus |
| Launch mass | 960.0 kilograms (2,116.4 lb)[2] |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | March 5, 1978 |
| Rocket | Delta 2910 |
| Launch site | Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W |
| End of mission | |
| Deactivated | September 7, 1983 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous |
| Perigee | 818 kilometers (508 mi) |
| Apogee | 918 kilometers (570 mi) |
| Inclination | 99.1 degrees |
| Period | 103.16 minutes |
| Epoch | May 15, 1990[1] |
Landsat 3 is the third satellite of the Landsat program. It was launched on March 5, 1978, with the primary goal of providing a global archive of satellite imagery (satellite data are called images and not photos because they are not just reflected light exposure, but recordings of radiative electromagnetic energy fluxes of surface materials). Unlike later Landsats, Landsat 3 was managed solely by NASA. Landsat 3 is no longer in operation, having been decommissioned on September 7, 1983, far beyond its designed life expectancy of one year.[3]
Specifications
Landsat 3 had essentially the same design as Landsat 2. It carried a Multi-Spectral Scanner, which had a maximum 75 meters (246 ft) resolution. Unlike the previous two Landsat missions, a thermal band was built into Landsat 3's Multi-Spectral Scanner, but this instrument failed shortly after the satellite was deployed.[4] Landsat 3 was placed into a polar orbit at about 920 kilometers (570 mi), and took 18 days to cover the entire Earth's surface.
References
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