Landsat 5

Infobox Earth satellite
name = Landsat 5


launch_date = March 1, 1984
launch_vehicle = Delta 3920
launch_site = Vandenberg AFB
orbit_reference = WRS-2
orbit_type = sun-synchronous, near-polar
orbit_altitude = 705 km (438 mi)
orbit_inclination = 98.2°
orbit_repeat = 16 days
orbit_swath = 185 km (115 mi)
orbit_crossing = 9:45 AM +/- 15 minutes

Landsat 5 is the fifth satellite of the Landsat program. It was launched on March 1, 1984, with the primary goal of providing a global archive of satellite photos. The Landsat Program is managed by USGS, and data from Landsat 5 is collected and distributed from the USGS's Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science.

olar Array Drive Anomaly

On November 26, 2005, the back-up solar array drive on Landsat 5 began exhibiting unusual behavior. The solar array drive maintains the proper pointing angle between the solar array and the sun. The rotation of the solar array drive became sporadic, and the solar array was not able to provide the power needed to charge the batteries. Maintaining power to the batteries is critical to sustain proper operation of the spacecraft. The primary solar array drive failed under similar circumstances in January 2005. As a result of this situation, imaging operations were suspended. [cite web |url=http://landsat.usgs.gov/technical_details/investigations/l5_solar_drive.php |title=Landsat 5 Solar Array Drive Anomaly |publisher=USGS |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071213041533/http://landsat.usgs.gov/technical_details/investigations/l5_solar_drive.php |archivedate=2007-12-13 |accessdate=2008-09-12] After a month-long investigation in December 2005 and testing in January 2006, new operating procedures were developed that will allow Landsat 5 to continue normal operations. [cite web|url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sfn_060128_landsat_5.html |title=Landsat 5 Satellite Recovers From Latest Glitch |publisher=SPACE.com |date=28 January 2006 |author=Stephen Clark |accessdate=2008-09-12]

Battery problem

Landsat 5 imaging was suspended on October 6, 2007 due to a battery cell failure with one of its two working batteries. Landsat 5 resumed imaging on January 10, 2008.Fact|date=September 2008

pecifications

Landsat 5 has significantly exceeded its designed life expectancy, and has a maximum transmission bandwidth of 85 Mbit/s. It was deployed at an altitude of convert|705.3|km|abbr=on, a lower orbit than Landsat 4. It takes some 16 days to scan the entire Earth. The satellite is an identical copy of Landsat 4 and was originally intended as a backup - it therefore carries the same instruments, including the Thematic Mapper and Multi-Spectral Scanner. The Multi-Spectral Scanner was powered down in 1995.Fact|date=September 2008

ee also

*NASA World Wind (uses Geocover 1990 layer made from Landsat 4 & 5 data)

References

External links

* [http://landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Landsat NASA homepage]
* [http://landsat.org/ Landsat.org Home Page]
* [http://maps.atlogis.com/webmapping/htdocs/index.html Atlogis Maps] and [http://www.atlogis.com/metamaps.html Atlogis Meta-Maps] : Online-Viewer for Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 Natural Color Mosaic