Eyes on Earth Episode 88 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 2
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 learn about how the Landsat 5 flight operations team managed to keep the satellite going as it collected data into its 20s and an award the team recently received.

Designed to last three years, Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and transmitted data until the launch of Landsat 8 in 2013. In this episode, we learn about some of the challenges—and adrenaline rushes—Landsat 5 gave the flight operations team as it aged, as well as the fondness our two guests came to have for the satellite’s unique personality and the whole team as they served on it during the satellite’s twilight years. In October 2022, the Flight Operations Team won the 2020 Group Pecora Award during the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium.
Guests: Steve Covington, former Landsat 5 flight manager, now Aerospace Corp. contractor serving as the principal systems engineer for the USGS National Land Imaging Program; and Jeff Devine, former Landsat 5 lead operations engineer, now KBR contractor leading the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Host: Jane Lawson (contractor for USGS EROS)
Producer: Tom Adamson (contractor for USGS EROS)
Release date: Monday, January 23, 2023
Download and Transcript Access
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Eyes on Earth Episode 87 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 1
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 learn about the significance of the fifth satellite in the 50-year-old Landsat program and its remarkable ability to observe the Earth for nearly 29 years.Eyes on Earth Episode 85 – Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission
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 learn more about Landsat 7’s extended science mission and the resulting circumstance of collecting data from three Landsat satellites.Eyes on Earth Episode 78 – Landsat 50 Lookback
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 look back at how past guests viewed the value of Landsat satellites and their 50-year history.
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 learn about how the Landsat 5 flight operations team managed to keep the satellite going as it collected data into its 20s and an award the team recently received.

Designed to last three years, Landsat 5 launched in 1984 and transmitted data until the launch of Landsat 8 in 2013. In this episode, we learn about some of the challenges—and adrenaline rushes—Landsat 5 gave the flight operations team as it aged, as well as the fondness our two guests came to have for the satellite’s unique personality and the whole team as they served on it during the satellite’s twilight years. In October 2022, the Flight Operations Team won the 2020 Group Pecora Award during the 22nd William T. Pecora Memorial Remote Sensing Symposium.
Guests: Steve Covington, former Landsat 5 flight manager, now Aerospace Corp. contractor serving as the principal systems engineer for the USGS National Land Imaging Program; and Jeff Devine, former Landsat 5 lead operations engineer, now KBR contractor leading the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Flight Operations Team at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Host: Jane Lawson (contractor for USGS EROS)
Producer: Tom Adamson (contractor for USGS EROS)
Release date: Monday, January 23, 2023
Download and Transcript Access
Related Episodes
-
Eyes on Earth Episode 87 – Landsat 5’s Significance, Part 1
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 learn about the significance of the fifth satellite in the 50-year-old Landsat program and its remarkable ability to observe the Earth for nearly 29 years.Eyes on Earth Episode 85 – Landsat 7 Extended Science Mission
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 learn more about Landsat 7’s extended science mission and the resulting circumstance of collecting data from three Landsat satellites.Eyes on Earth Episode 78 – Landsat 50 Lookback
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 look back at how past guests viewed the value of Landsat satellites and their 50-year history.