What It Looks Like When One Satellite Sees Another

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There aren't many U.S. government programs — even space programs — like Landsat. Since the 1970s, the project's satellites have continuously imaged the surface of the Earth, providing the longest-running archive of Earth observation photography. You've almost certain seen pictures from the Landsat program: They're used extensively in Google Maps.

It's very important the government maintains that long-running archive, so there's usually more than one Landsat satellite in space at any one time. In fact, right now, there are three. There's Landsat 8, the youngest and spiffiest addition to the program. (It just celebrated its first anniversary of operation, on Tuesday.) Then there's Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and still functions despite some technical issues Read more...

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