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Eyes on Earth Episode 59 – Landsat 9 Ground System

Eyes on Earth is a podcast on remote sensing, Earth observation, land change and science, brought to you by the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. In this episode, we hear how the USGS prepared for the launch of Landsat 9.

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Color photo of Kari Wulf and Mike O'Brien with the logo for the EROS podcast "Eyes on Earth"
Kari Wulf, above, and Mike O'Brien

Summary: The launch of Landsat 9 in September of 2021 represents a milestone for a joint USGS/NASA program that stretches back nearly 50 years. Landsat 9 will continue the legacy of unbroken, repeat Earth observations and contribute to our understanding of a changing planet. The primary USGS roles for Landsat satellites, which are built and launched by NASA, are to operate the ground system, process and archive the data, and distribute it to users around the world. On this episode of Eyes on Earth, we hear from two people who’ve been involved in the development of the Landsat 9 ground system to learn what it takes to bring Landsat data to the Earth and transform it into the data products and imagery we all recognize.

Guests: Kari Wulf, Aerospace Corp, Landsat 9 mission integration lead and ground system manager, Mike O’Brien, contractor and ground system engineer

Host: John Hult

Producer: John Hult

Release date: Sept. 20, 2021

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