Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/117518
NEWSLINK New Landsat Satellite Takes to Orbit NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) successfully sent aloft a new satellite that will serve as the latest Earth-observing workhorse for the agencies. The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), also known as Landsat 8, joins the aging Landsat 7 satellite (activated in April 1999). Landsat 8 also helps fill the gap left by the December 2012 decommissioning of Landsat 5, which had been on the job since 1984. "Landsat is a centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science program, and today's successful launch will extend the longest continuous data record of Earth's surface as seen from space," said Charles Bolden, NASA administrator. "This data is a key tool for monitoring climate change and has led to the improvement of human and biodiversity health, energy and water management, urban planning, disaster recovery, and agriculture monitoring—all resulting in incalculable benefits to the U.S. and world economy." USGS Director Marcia McNutt emphasized the Landsat program's role in helping a variety of users. "Over the last 40 years, students, land managers, scientists, relief workers, water managers and ordinary citizens from nearly 200 nations have come to rely on Landsat as the authoritative source of unbiased information on changes in our planet's solid surface," she noted. "The launch of Landsat 8, in the nick of time as Landsat 5 is decommissioned and Landsat 7 is experiencing continued hardware failures, allows us to continue to provide this vital information to the world." Landsat 8 launched on Feb. 11, 2013, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA dedicated roughly $855 million for design, development, launch and on-orbit "checkout" phases for the mission. Following the launch, USGS has responsibility for the satellite's ground system, mission operations and the data processing/archive system. Key instruments include an Operational Land Imager built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Inc. and a Thermal Infrared Sensor built by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. NASA U.K. and U.S. Agree on GPS IP Rights An artist's rendering depicts the new Landsat 8 satellite in orbit. NASA, working with USGS, launched the satellite on Feb. 11, 2013 (inset). 6 G E O W O R L D / M A R C H 2 O 1 3 The United Kingdom (U.K.) and the United States reached a "common understanding" on intellectual property (IP) rights related to the Global Positioning System (GPS). Governments of the two nations also plan to work together to address broader IP issues in the realm of global navigation satellite systems. At the heart of the agreement is a goal of ensuring that GPS civil signals remain "perpetually free" and openly available for users worldwide. The pact also stands as part of a broader effort to advance compatibility and interoperability among civil satellite navigation systems and transparency in the provision of services. As part of this effort, the U.K. is dedicating all government-held patents and patent applications relating to U.S. GPS civil signal designs and their broadcast from GPS and other global navigation satellite systems to the public domain. The U.K. has committed to not pursue or assert intellectual property rights over any aspect of these signals, now or in the future. "I am pleased to welcome this new addition to our already close and wide-ranging space relationship with the United States," said Phillip Dunne, U.K.