Orbital Landsat 8 - Manual (Page 2)

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Landsat 8
Specifications
Spacecraft
Launch Mass: NTE 3,085 kg (6,801 lb.)
Solar Arrays: Triple-junction GaAs cells, 3750 W EOL
Orbit: 705 km circular @ 98.2 °
Stabilization: 3-axis, zero momentum bias, nadir pointing
Pointing Stability: 6.02 microradians
Data Storage: 4,000 Gbits BOL
Data Downlink: X-band, 384 Mbps (over two channels)
Propulsion: 395 kg (870 lb.) of blowdown monopropellant
hydrazine with eight (8) 22N thrusters
Design Life: 5.25 years, 10 year goal
Launch
Launch Vehicle: Atlas V – 401
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Date: February 11, 2013
Instruments
Operational Land Imager (OLI)
The OLI collects land-surface data in the visible and near-infrared spectra, and
features two additional spectral channels: one for coastal and aerosol studies, and
another for cirrus cloud detection.
Thermal InfraRed Sensor (TIRS)
TIRS coincidently collects data for two longwave (thermal) spectral bands not
imaged by the OLI.
Landsat 8: Continuing the Landsat Legacy
Because of Landsat's long history and unparalleled data record, data continuity
with prior Landsat missions is paramount because the two most recent Landsat
observatories, Landsat 5 and 7, far exceeded their design. NASA chose Orbital
as their Landsat 8 spacecraft partner in consideration of Orbital's legacy of
exceptional performance and short delivery times.
The Landsat 8 mission is charged with collecting data sufficiently consistent with
data from early Landsat satellites to allow comparisons for regional and global
change detection. Landsat 8 has two new spectral bands, one tailored especially
for detecting cirrus clouds and the other for coastal zone observation. Additionally,
Landsat 8 will return more than twice as many scenes per day than Landsat 7,
increasing the probability of capturing cloud-free scenes of the global landmass.
Mission Partners
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Spacecraft design, integration and test, launch mission
operations
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Project management, TIRS instrument, OLI instrument
management
United States Geological Survey
Data processing and archiving, ground systems
management, mission operations
Landsat 8 image of Paluweh volcano ash
plume, Indonesia
Landsat 8 image of Princess Charlotte Bay,
Australia