Global Outlook

On Monday, US space agency NASA cleared the launch of Landsat 9. It is a powerful Earth-observing satellite containing four tiny satellites. Being a joint mission between NASA and US Geological Survey (USGS), Landsat 9 will monitor Earth's land and coastal regions that began with the first Landsat satellite in 1972. Following the tradition, Landsat 9 satellite will take the orbital track of Landsat 7, which will be decommissioned. Deb Haaland, who is the Interior Secretary, mentioned that the Landsat program provides “a rich form of data” that helps people’s everyday lives and is vital in dealing with climate change. Teams from NASA and USGS will collectively work with a predecessor, Landsat 8, to extend a nearly 50-year record of land and coastal region observations. This data will be used to study differential patterns and evolvement of earth from 1972, the first Landsat. Haaland further added that they are in the thick of the climate crisis right now. They see that every day dro...