NASA poised to launch powerful new Earth-watching satellite Monday

NASA/VAFB

The payload fairing containing the Landsat Data Continuity Mission spacecraft arrives at Vandenberg Air Force Base's Space Launch Complex-3E where it will be hoisted atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V for launch. Image released Jan 25, 2013.

By Mike Wall, SPACE.com

NASA is gearing up for the Monday launch of an Earth-observation satellite that will continue a celebrated 40-year project to monitor our planet's surface from space.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission is slated to blast off Monday at 1:02 p.m. EST (1802 GMT/10:02 a.m. PST) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The LDCM satellite is the eighth overall in the Landsat program, which has been scrutinizing Earth from orbit continuously since Landsat 1 launched in 1972.

Mission team members call LDCM the most advanced and capable Landsat spacecraft ever built. It should help the United States and other nations around the world monitor environmental change and better manage their natural resources, they say.

"LDCM will continue to describe the human impact on Earth and the impact of Earth on humanity, which is vital for accommodating seven billion people on our planet," LDCM project manager Ken Schwer, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told reporters Friday during a prelaunch press briefing. [Photos: The Next Landsat Earth-Observing Spacecraft]

The $855 million LDCM mission is a collaboration between NASA and the United States Geological Survey, which will take over operations after the spacecraft's launch and initial checkouts. At that point, the satellite will be renamed Landsat 8.

Landsat 8 will zip around the Earth at an altitude of 438 miles, using two sensors to study the planet's surface in the visible and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The SUV-size satellite will achieve full Earth coverage every 16 days, though its work will lower this to once per eight days for the program overall. That's because Landsat 8 will fly eight days behind Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and recently became the only currently operational Landsat spacecraft. (Landsat 5 retired recently after 29 years of service).

Landsat 8's observations will have a broad range of applications, from illuminating the impacts of climate change to monitoring agricultural output to helping authorities respond to natural disasters, scientists said.

"Landsat data is a global resource, empowering nations to individually monitor and report," said Mike Wulder of the Canadian Forest Service in Victoria, British Columbia. "Further, Landsat data allows us to see what the world looks like, and how it has changed over time."

The weather should be good at Vandenberg during Monday's launch window, officials said, but it hasn't been cooperating today. The mission team wanted to perform some ordnance connections on LDCM's launch vehicle, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, earlier Friday, but were unable to do so because of the threat of lightning.

"We've got to be able to get that work done," said NASA launch director Omar Baez. "If we don't, then we'll have to reassess the schedule. But it's too early to tell."

Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+.

 

 

 

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Why don't other countries help pay for this?

  • 6 votes
#1 - Fri Feb 8, 2013 9:41 PM EST

They blew all their money on that hadron collider.

  • 6 votes
#1.1 - Fri Feb 8, 2013 9:50 PM EST

because we can just print the money out of thin air.

  • 10 votes
#1.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 1:59 AM EST

because than we would to share the data and technology with then.

    #1.4 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:19 AM EST

    Wanna bet it won't monitor where the drones are in the U.S., but will be able to tell you what everyone in Iran and other foriegn countries are up to?

      #1.5 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:55 AM EST

      Europe has its own series of satellites called SPOT.

        #1.7 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 3:47 PM EST

        Speakthetruth; wanna bet it will also be able to tell them what anyone in the USA that they want to watch is up to as well??

        We have like 2500 satelites in space now, the government can watch pretty much everything now. If they had the man power they could watch every one of us so luckily they do not have enough man power but, if you are on their list of people they want to keep an eye on they can definately keep an eye on you!!!!!

          #1.8 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:07 AM EST

          Skynet?

          • 1 vote
          #1.9 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:34 AM EST

          WOW! The tin foil hat crowd is out in force today. Keep watching for those black helicopters boys!

          • 3 votes
          #1.10 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:57 AM EST

          Why don't other countries help pay for this?

          They did! Who do you think loaned us the money to do this?

          If we have to share information with other countries we lose control. Just think how we can mess with them if we want to through satellite data when we want to. Just imagine the humor when another country goes to war with us using our GPS data they receive.

            #1.11 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:21 AM EST

            "LDCM will continue to describe the human impact on Earth and the impact of Earth on humanity, which is vital for accommodating seven billion people on our planet,"

            Is this thing equipped with nuclear weapons that can thin the herd down where needed? Otherwise it is @!$%#ing useless.

            • 3 votes
            #1.12 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:49 AM EST

            lol...The things people find to bitch about on here never should amaze me...But it does.

            It's good, new technology, as our satellites get older and become less efficient this will be able to do more and last longer, & well worth the cost.

            Good move NASA. Keep up the hard work. Thumbs up for the launch.

            • 2 votes
            #1.14 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 10:05 AM EST

            Unfortunately, the Party of No reviles Science and Modernity.

            This NASA investment will have dollars on the penny in economic returns with how we can balance our fetish with fossils fuels vs. the destruction of the environment.

            If the political will is present, we could complete the turn toward human sustainability.

            Sadly, the pre-Modern, Greed Over People (GOP) Party sees short-term interests (years) over long term benefits (centuries/millenia).

            Heck of a job, Party of No.

            • 1 vote
            #1.15 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:32 PM EST

            Talk about foil hats... ↑

              #1.16 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:48 PM EST

              "LDCM will continue to describe the human impact on Earth and the impact of Earth on humanity..."

              What a bunch a pointy head idiots. There is no climate change, intelligent people know this. IF there was ANY climate change serious and sane people know that we are not causing it. I have been pouring my used motor oil and dumping my garbage in a lake behind my house for years and nothing I have done has had ANY effect WHATSOEVER on my lake. All the fish died in it last year due to the Sun's increased solar activity. Now there is just too much GREEN, aka NATURE stuff for fish to come back. This problem is way too big for humans to fix, so I pray that GOD will come heal my lake. So far He has not healed my lake because my neighbors are homosexuals I think. I continue to dump my garbage into the lake. I hope that one day God will come back and fix my lake and make it pretty like it used to be when He made it 6,000 years ago.

              • 1 vote
              #1.17 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:05 PM EST
              Reply

              A moon based observatory could REALLY keep an eye on earth.

              • 3 votes
              Reply#2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 2:07 AM EST

              Chinese based observatory would and could REALLY keep an eye on earth.

              • 3 votes
              #2.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:00 AM EST

              Ray... let's see, Landsat at 430 miles up, or the Moon at 280,000 miles up. Which would provide better data?

              • 3 votes
              #2.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 3:42 PM EST

              People just enjoy your life; and be thankful that NASA/US still has an awesome space program.

              • 1 vote
              #2.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:36 AM EST

              ray smith: A moon based observatory could REALLY keep an eye on earth.

              Not so much... unless it was on rails and able to move across the service at a tremendous speed.

                #2.4 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:18 AM EST

                The moon doesn't rotate. The same side is always facing us. No need to move at all. However, I doubt a moon based observation station would be better than one in close orbit. Unless it was huge, because its on the moons surface.

                  #2.5 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:35 AM EST

                  No the moon doesn't rotate... but we do, and at a pretty good clip,

                    #2.6 - Thu Apr 25, 2013 3:15 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    here is the link I refered to in the other space post.

                    http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/archive/PIA16762.gif

                      Reply#3 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 2:11 AM EST

                      Ray-man, apparently a Mars rover photo. What's the time interval between the two images, and what's the significance? Looks like a micrometeorite impact, or maybe something the rover sampled.

                      RSVP when able.

                      Dave

                        #3.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 12:09 PM EST

                        It's drill hole made by the new rover. Before and after.

                          #3.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:17 AM EST

                          It's a Martian's ashtray. Must have dropped it while looking at the odd piece of space junk the Earthlings dumped on their planet.

                            #3.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:21 PM EST
                            Reply

                            It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the Political Scientist and Media to start IGNORING this data. They already IGNORE the INCREASING Antarctic Sea Ice, since 1979...

                            The GRACE system was suppose to be so accurate, but its data base depends on post-glacial rebound data that has an ACCEPTED +-20% error rate. Not much info, after they projected a 24+cubic mile a year decrease out of 6.7+MILLION cubic miles, since 2002 in 2010...

                            The ARGOS system with thousands of buoys, now located in ALL of the Earths Oceans. Four out of five ARGO data studies now show Ocean Heat Content declining. Not the RAPID increases noted by the prior Ocean temperature monitors or those predicted by the IPCC...

                            Remember when the NOAA-16 satellite was indicating 200+degree F water in the Great Lakes??? Undetected Satellite data error caused by the AVHRR instrument, inflated reports of Great Lake temperature averages...

                            Most Scientist wait for the VALIDATION of the Satellite data. By studying the difference between the estimated data and the observed data...

                            • 3 votes
                            Reply#4 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 2:57 AM EST

                            Hope we can find someone who can be trusted to be honest. East Anglia "Hide the Decline" anyone?

                            Objectivity requires going "wherever the data leads" without cherry-picking or filtering the data to fit a specific POLITICAL agenda.

                            Here's hoping scientists can get beyond the pressure-treated propaganda they bathed in during their academic training and REALLY SEE and really TELL THE TRUTH of what they find. No cover-ups or "hockey stick graphs" this time, PLEASE!!

                            • 2 votes
                            #4.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:56 AM EST

                            Well said davey. I am so tired of the lies! If they told the truth and nothing but the truth then more people would be able to say yes we need to do something.

                            Unfortunately it has become a bunch of false data or lies or even a bunch of scientists who know that if they told the truth on the data that they found they would loose their funding so they tell lies and make up false data so they can continue to get their funding!!!!

                            Most people with any intelligence know that there are some things that are true about climate change but we also know that it is not as bad as we are being told, in some ways!!!!

                            When the truth comes out that there are more Polar Bears on earth now than ever and just last year we were being told that they are almost extinct it does more damage.... The scientists who are doing the Global warming/colding or climate change or whatever it is being called now need to just tell the truth no matter what it is!!!!

                            Quit with the lies and manipulated data to get funding or power or control and that is what the global warming/colding climate crap has become about and it has turned many of us away from it because of it!!!

                            The fact is, when it comes out that the data has been manipulated to get the data they want so the UN and politicians can try and get more power over the people the scientists that did that just made it where the majority of the intelligent people do not believe them anymore, even the truth is being ignored now because of the lies and false data!!!

                            • 1 vote
                            #4.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:25 AM EST

                            garrie: hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahaha Everyone lies; the scientists lie; the politicians lie. Why? Because they're not telling you what you want to hear! You've got the truth and no one else! They're coming for you, Dude! The UN black helicopters know exactly where you live and they're coming for you! Stay in your bunker and keep your AK-47 and AR-15 ready. They're coming for you! hahahahahahhaahaha

                            • 2 votes
                            #4.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:57 AM EST

                            Maybe it will help them find Jimmy Hoffa.

                              #4.4 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:22 PM EST

                              AC, the ARGO data (especially for the full 2,000-meter depth) shows that ocean heat has been increasing almost steadily for years (see the nodc.noaa.gov website and look it up). Where are you getting your data from? Also, the 20% uncertainty you mention is only in a small correction term (the post-glacial rebound) for most locations; the overall error is probably closer to 5%, and there is clearly a net global ice loss.

                                #4.5 - Mon Feb 11, 2013 4:28 AM EST

                                EricH-3359508,

                                When you are looking @ 6.7+Million cubic miles of ice, even a 5% ERROR is +-335,000+cubic miles...

                                How can you clam an accuracy that enables you to state a 24+cubic mile melt rate???

                                ARGOS data -

                                Using the ARGO ocean buoy data from Josh Willis, Knox and Douglass still can’t find that missing heat in this paper published in the International Journal of Geosciences, currently in press here.

                                Recent energy balance of Earth
                                R. S. Knox and D. H. Douglass
                                Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

                                Abstract
                                A recently published estimate of Earth’s global warming trend is 0.63 ± 0.28 W/m2, as calculated from ocean heat content anomaly data spanning 1993–2008. This value is not representative of the recent (2003–2008) warming/cooling rate because of a “flattening” that occurred around 2001–2002. Using only 2003–2008 data from Argo floats, we find
                                by four different algorithms that the recent trend ranges from –0.010 to –0.160 W/m2 with a typical error bar of ±0.2 W/m2.

                                  #4.6 - Tue Feb 12, 2013 7:08 AM EST
                                  Reply

                                  why are they not getting with autec designers space would work much like low density water -you could use water to test the crafts-or even launch them using the same principle as a grest white leaping out the water

                                  i have to ask i have written all this and something must have worked -i have not been told

                                  i know i write it in a paper it's because i like it -but if you do use anything or my past stuff -a finacial tip would not go a miss

                                  and not the tip get a job-im unemployed-i love it because i could do much more-but financially i have to go back

                                  no publishing companies

                                  !) i have not even had a whack job talk to me i thought someone would come -are we all from diff planets

                                  is this a bout fear because if thats what you see -you have nothing to worry about

                                  isn't obvious we are all on you side--theres more than one of us-infact there seems to be alot

                                  i live on earth i think -the reason i say it-is that i would love to be involved with the projects -i'm very real and not a bad guy

                                  i don't the issue here -it's very bizarre and adds even weirder argument to the question-

                                  wheres lantana

                                  and what was that floating island in the south pacific no one can find apart from the airplanes

                                  we should do something good with lantana airport -it's where the 9-11 pilots trained-need better memories for lantana-it's a cool town everyone's here -i see the licence plates

                                    Reply#5 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 7:06 AM EST

                                    It was GUAM which, according to Congressman Hank Johnson (D), was going to flip over when we put the Marines from Okinawa on the island.

                                    Google "Yank Hank" or "Hank Johnson Guam capsizing" for the YouTube video. Pretty hilarious, if sad. But, by-golly, he got re-elected by his constituents. Gotta keep those Democrat voters represented...

                                      #5.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 12:15 PM EST

                                      It was GUAM which, according to Congressman Hank Johnson (D), was going to flip over when we put the Marines from Okinawa on the island.

                                      Wasn't it a republican who said a woman wouldn't get pregnant if raped because her body wouldn't allow it? Stupidity isn't limited to democrats.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #5.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:01 AM EST
                                      Reply

                                      First..........I'm as pro space exploration as a taxpayer can be, but. . . . . .Just like the US can't be the World's Policemen anymore, we can NO LONGER be the earth's sole watchmen either. Also.....A BILLION frigging dollars for a EARTH ORBIT SAT ??? The NSA gave NASA more or less 1 3/4 Hubble Telescope's, for FREE. Where do we stand on that ???

                                      The money spent on this project should have been spent on research for the next gen. propulsion systems. Time for NASA to get out of earth orbit, we've been stuck there since 1973.

                                      • 2 votes
                                      Reply#6 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 7:21 AM EST

                                      The advances in science and it's impact on humanity, including the internet you are using, came from such explorations. Money well spent. lets build less tanks and more science for humanity.

                                      • 4 votes
                                      #6.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:29 AM EST

                                      The European Space Agency also launches earth-orbiting and "deep space" probes. Just because you don't read about them on msnbc.com doesn't mean thta they don't happen. The ESA is quite active.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #6.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:57 AM EST

                                      This is most likely the Sattelite that will be able to count your ammunition, document and itemize your weapons and record the number of people inside your home at any given time. Why should we expect it to be any different than that with our Government acting the way it is acting now. Treating us like we are the criminals' that can't be trusted. While we pay their salaries and allow them to rob, kill and debilitate us daily in the name of marketing, chemistry and medicine.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #6.3 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:17 AM EST

                                      The machine is becoming suicidal.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #6.4 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:21 AM EST

                                      OBTW, the ENTIRE NASA BUDGET is less than a SINGLE category of FARM SUBSIDY, much of which goes to Crony Capitalist Agribusinesses who are among the "IN" crowd. Well placed lobbyists are a beautiful thing...

                                      • 2 votes
                                      #6.5 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 11:00 AM EST

                                      Big Daddy... NRO (not NSA) gave NASA two telescopes, not "1 3/4 Hubble Telescopes." NASA still needs to design the satellites to carry the telescopes, pick and design instruments that will use the telescopes, etc. The two telescopes give NASA a head start, but they'll still need a lot of time and money to turn into working satellites.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      #6.6 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 3:46 PM EST
                                      Reply

                                      It is sad that our great natiion's space program has been reduced to redundant satallite replacement, no great leaps forward for Mankind from the greatest nation on Earth.

                                      The worst part is that we could afford to if we weren't so busy sending arms and cash to third world despots who still think the Moon is just a big light.

                                      • 9 votes
                                      Reply#7 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 7:25 AM EST

                                      i hesitate to use the term "leaders"... so, politicians with no vision...with a desire to fill their seemingly deep pockets through foreign aid

                                      • 2 votes
                                      #7.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:04 AM EST

                                      Question: what percentage of our budget do you think is spent on foreign aid?

                                        #7.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:11 AM EST

                                        Heard tell foreign aid is on the order of 0.0001% percent of the Federal Budget. I don't have precise figures but it's pretty miniscule.

                                        More obvious would be the unmentionable, untouchable "sacred cow" of entitlements which bribe voters to re-elect incumbents of both parties, but mostly Democrat districts. Entitlements are about 2/3 of discretionary spending, with ALL defense spending being about 1/3. You don't generally hear that from the NYC-based media who, without shame, SUNK Romney and IGNORED the obvious economic DISASTER of BHO's first term merely because he is a fellow Marxist as well as the Liberal Wet Dream Dear Leader.

                                        Darn it! G. Washington was right again!

                                        • 1 vote
                                        #7.3 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 11:10 AM EST

                                        The worst part is that we could afford to if we weren't so busy sending arms and cash to third world despots who still think the Moon is just a big light.

                                        The amount of money spent on regular foreign aid is trivial compared to what we've spent and given to Iraq and Afganistan the last 12 years to rebuild. It amounts to over a trillion and isn't part of the militaries budget. Maybe we need someone to conquer us and pay for the rebuild.

                                          #7.4 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:06 AM EST

                                          The entitlement spending in the USA is outrages and it is what is going to take us down. Everyone can complain about foreign aid but it is only about 1% of the federal spending. Mandatory entitlements (Unemployment, Medicaid, Medicare, SS) : 2,009 million dollars about 56% of the 2010 Federal Budget
                                          SS: 19%
                                          Medicaid: 8%
                                          Unemployment: 16%
                                          Medicare: 12 %

                                          Defense Spending (including overseas operations): 663 million dollars or 18% but, the entitlements is what is destroying this nation and they are getting worse!!!

                                          The other thing is the entitlements like welfare, medical, housing assistance is all approximately another 7% of the federal budget but it does not show up as an entitlement instead they come out under State funding for other things and do not forget the failed department of education!!!!

                                          The NASA programs do hire and keep many Americans employed but unfortunately obama has not made it where it no longer just and American entity, now it is about bringing the United States and Islam together according to a new memorandum from the obama office!!!!

                                            #7.5 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:52 AM EST

                                            Social Security is hardly an "entitlement" when you've been paying in to it for your entire life. I doubt that unemployment is as high as you state, but it'll go down as the economy improves.

                                            • 2 votes
                                            #7.6 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:02 AM EST

                                            @ garrie: Of the programs listed, only Medicaid is a pure entitlement. Social Security is a mostly-funded program, via payroll taxes of 12.4%. It is not 100% funded, though, as some think--approximately 75 cents of every benefit dollar is funded. Medicare is partially-funded via payroll taxes of 2.9% and enrollee premiums. Unemployment is mostly funded via FUTA and SUTA (or SUI). While I would agree that we need to get the partially/mostly-funded programs into balance (SS, MediCARE and Unemployment), they do not belong in the same sentence as MediCAID, which is a 100% entitlement. Please do more research.

                                            • 2 votes
                                            #7.7 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:41 AM EST

                                            At the moment, every dollar of Social Security is funded. The problem will hit around 2030 when it drops to about $0.75. But, that could be resolved if small changes were made now.

                                            But, it is in the right-wing's interest to call it an "entitlement" because that makes cutting the program sound more palatable. Much like Ryan's "we have to destroy Medicare to save it" (reminds me of "we have to destroy the village to save it").

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #7.8 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:09 PM EST

                                            DaveyJonesDetroit

                                            Heard tell foreign aid is on the order of 0.0001% percent of the Federal Budget. I don't have precise figures but it's pretty miniscule.

                                            More obvious would be the unmentionable, untouchable "sacred cow" of entitlements which bribe voters to re-elect incumbents of both parties, but mostly Democrat districts. Entitlements are about 2/3 of discretionary spending, with ALL defense spending being about 1/3. You don't generally hear that from the NYC-based media who, without shame, SUNK Romney and IGNORED the obvious economic DISASTER of BHO's first term merely because he is a fellow Marxist as well as the Liberal Wet Dream Dear Leader.

                                            Darn it! G. Washington was right again!

                                            LMAO. Really, you think we spend $3.8 Million on foreign aid? Too funny! I love seeing you right wingers bitch and moan in your comments, pulling 'facts' out of your asses. Highly entertaining!

                                            But wait! It gets even better!

                                            (2012) SS/Medicare/Medicaid discretionary spending totals 2.4%. Defense discretionary spending totals 17.5%.

                                            Last I checked, "2/3" is not 2.4%, nor is "1/3" 17.5%, but at least you were closer on the defense spending.

                                            These FACTS were brought to you by a simple Internet search. It always amazes me how you cons have so much knowledge at your fingertips, yet choose to remain ignorant. You boys just can't admit you're wrong! Hahahaha

                                            Yes, we know you don't have precise figures. You're a Republican, it goes without saying.

                                            • 1 vote
                                            #7.9 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:21 PM EST
                                            Reply

                                            help the United States and other nations around the world monitor environmental change and better manage their natural resources, they say.

                                            Give me a break, it's a spy satellite.

                                            Four more years...

                                            • 6 votes
                                            Reply#8 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 7:53 AM EST

                                            Baja, I'm with you for the most part. If it was a spy satellite, though, we'd never even hear about it, much less see a photo of it. It would be just another rumble in the night and a funny looking contrail streaking out north of Vandy.

                                            Really a sad commentary when we can't even BELIEVE or TRUST our elected officials anymore. Here's hoping we still have an America, NOT an AmeriKa, in four more years...

                                              #8.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 11:17 AM EST

                                              NRO, the spy satellite people, launched for satellites last year, all simply called "NRO" in the public advisories, with no more information given. Given that NRO already announces their spy satellite launches, why would they pretend NASA's Landsat 8 is a spy satellite?

                                              • 2 votes
                                              #8.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 3:52 PM EST

                                              Er, four satellites last year.

                                                #8.3 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 4:00 PM EST
                                                Reply

                                                send>our black obama the king with it

                                                • 3 votes
                                                Reply#9 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 7:54 AM EST

                                                Don't waste your life.

                                                  #9.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:26 AM EST
                                                  Reply

                                                  More junk to prove their junk science of global warming.

                                                  • 4 votes
                                                  Reply#10 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:02 AM EST

                                                  smoke n mirrors at its best!

                                                  • 4 votes
                                                  Reply#11 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:05 AM EST

                                                  Wait, NASA is sending something into space?!?! I thought O the Almighty declared that their mission was to work on American/Muslim relations?!?

                                                  • 3 votes
                                                  Reply#12 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:15 AM EST

                                                  I spent 8 years in the USAF from 1975 to 1983. I see they "USAF" just blew a billion $ on a pc upgrade that they dont have enough people or brains, to operate. I also saw in the interview that nothing will be done to the persons or company responsible for this waste of taxpayer money. Gee, whats up with that? I hope and pray the USAF has nothing to do with this NASA adventure or we can kiss goodbye some more $$$$$. I think I can speak for the rest of the tax paying country in saying: WHERE THE Fu(k IS OUR "FAIR SHARE" OF ALL THIS? THANK YOU!

                                                    Reply#13 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:21 AM EST

                                                    Obama's friends are never punished. remember Solyndra???/

                                                    • 3 votes
                                                    #13.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:24 AM EST

                                                    Obama's friends are never punished. remember Solyndra???/

                                                    Neither were Bush and Cheneys friends at Haliburton for the massive fraud in Iraq. The amount of fraud in that case made Solyndra look like chump change.

                                                    • 3 votes
                                                    #13.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:08 AM EST

                                                    So far,
                                                    prosecutions of those involved in this corruption have resulted in 13
                                                    convictions, guilty pleas, or indictments of various government officials, and
                                                    employees of Halliburton. The most famous case, so far, is that of former Rep.
                                                    Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) who pleaded guilty last November, to
                                                    accepting $2.4 million in bribes from two military contractors. The Special
                                                    Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen, reports that there are
                                                    70 corruption investigations underway in Iraq, 23 of which involve allegations
                                                    of contract fraud, overcharging, product substitution, or false claims. Another
                                                    50 cases have been brought by whistleblowers under the False Claims Act,
                                                    alleging fraud by contractors operating in Iraq. One of those cases has resulted
                                                    in a conviction, but the Department of Justice is blocking the remaining cases
                                                    from going forward by delaying the decision whether or not to participate in
                                                    these cases. Hurricane Katrina has opened up an even bigger can of worms, with a
                                                    reported 785 cases of criminal activity, including procurement fraud and abuse,
                                                    currently under investigation

                                                    Cheney and
                                                    Halliburton's Iraq Oil Contract

                                                    In 2004,
                                                    Judicial Watch had uncovered a March 5, 2003 e-mail from an Army Corps of
                                                    Engineers official in Kuwait reporting that then-Deputy Secretary of Defense
                                                    Paul Wolfowitz and Undersecretary for Policy Doug Feith had approved execution
                                                    of Halliburton's RIO contract; that Feith had approved it contingent on
                                                    informing the White House, and that, "We anticipate no issue, since action has
                                                    been coordinated with VP's office." E-mails in the latest release suggest that
                                                    Corps of Engineers officials lied about the involvement of Cheney's office after
                                                    the contract became public.

                                                    On April 22,
                                                    2003, CBS's "60 Minutes" taped an interview with Robert Anderson, chief counsel
                                                    of the Army Corps of Engineers, in which he was asked repeatedly about the role
                                                    of Cheney in the awarding of the RIO contract to Halliburton. Carol Sanders, who
                                                    was the chief of public affairs at Corps headquarters, reported in an e-mail the
                                                    next day to the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, that Anderson
                                                    "asked that we get a note to the Office of the Vice President that during the 60
                                                    Minutes interviews, he was asked several times about the connection to the Vice
                                                    President and he kept reiterating that the decision was made by career civil
                                                    servants." The assistant secretary (whose name is redacted in the documents)
                                                    replied that he had forwarded Sanders' message to Dana Perino, a White House
                                                    official who then forwarded it to Jennifer Millerwise, Cheney's press
                                                    secretary.

                                                    • 3 votes
                                                    #13.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:19 AM EST

                                                    Just imagine what will come out if holder and obama ever open the books on fast and furious or Bengahzi, or what has gone in Afghanistan over the past 4 years, or Egypt, or Syria, or any of the other places that we have performed operations or provided weapons to!!!!

                                                    If the truth was ever released about fast and furious both holder and obama should be impeached and put in prison!!!!!!

                                                    I find it to be kind of funny that you are saying how none of bush's friends got punished as you mention names of those who went to prison for breaking the law!!! To top it off many of the names you mentioned were not there because of bush or cheney

                                                      #13.4 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:09 AM EST
                                                      Reply

                                                      just what we need, another spy satellite.

                                                      • 2 votes
                                                      Reply#14 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:22 AM EST

                                                      NASA, it's time to explore other earth like planets. Please save your remaining balance and future money hold so we can invent advance rockets so we can travel through space at a faster rate.

                                                      These new satellites are not necessary since we are well knowledged on human exploration and how we all came to be here. Our weather pattern and global warming is quite concerning for the weather has caused dramatic consequences. You can thank all the space monkeys you strapped into our previous space rockets for we wouldn't be anywhere until now without those sacrifices. I've been looking forward to becoming a future astronaut but as of right now my dreams have been turned to something less value to me. I would love to visit your museums and public facilities at a later date and hopefuly learn more about your procedures in improving our space missions.

                                                        Reply#15 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:24 AM EST

                                                        Just another toy for the man boy in the whithouse. It's all about power and nothing else. He know's that when obamacare totally kicks in he can afford more toys. Screw us and the economy, he could care less. That goes for all you lib's as well, give it time. Someday you'll clear the smoke from your brains?

                                                        • 3 votes
                                                        Reply#16 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:28 AM EST

                                                        The Landsat Data Continuity Mission was begun in October 2002 by President Bush.

                                                        • 3 votes
                                                        #16.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 4:09 PM EST

                                                        The Landsat Data Continuity Mission was begun in October 2002 by President Bush.

                                                        Yep another Bush unfunded project left for Obama to pay for while idiots like spudson can blame him. An education might help. But probably not.

                                                        • 2 votes
                                                        #16.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 7:12 AM EST

                                                        bush, bush, bush..... I am sorry but what is it with blaming bush still 4 years after obama took office?

                                                        What is it with libs/progressives/socialists always blaming other people for the problems that they create!

                                                        Real men take responsibility for their own actions!!!! I guess this just goes to show that libs/progressives/socialists are not real men but little boys!!!

                                                        I am sorry but obama could have cancelled the program if it was not needed or maybe even made some changes if they were needed.... Anything that has gone on over the past four almost four and a half years is all obama and that is just the facts of the matter!!!!

                                                        I am also sorry but when you bring up unfunded projects you might want to look at all of the unfunded projects under obama!! We have not even had a budget for four years and it has just been print and spend and print and spend.....

                                                        I know that bush spent a lot also but lets put the blame where it belongs when it comes to financial messes, and right now our financial mess is 75% obama and that is just the facts!!!!

                                                          #16.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:24 AM EST
                                                          Reply

                                                          "earth watching"?, lol. Those corrupt powers are always treat us like we are so stupid. Its a SPY SATELLITE.

                                                          • 4 votes
                                                          Reply#17 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 8:44 AM EST

                                                          There are already plenty of spy satellites (those are the launches they won't say what is onboard, four last year alone), why the masquerade for Landsat 8? And if Landsat is really a spy satellite, from where is the data that USGS and other scientists use coming?

                                                          • 1 vote
                                                          #17.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 4:11 PM EST

                                                          @BThorn ... stop with the facts already. They're just not as much fun as conspiracy theories. Although, Landsat as a spy satelllite is one of the most poorly thought-out conspiracy theories ever.

                                                            #17.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 12:12 PM EST

                                                            Naw, stooge. It's really a laser to kill American citizens!! Better go get a bigger gun!

                                                              #17.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:01 PM EST
                                                              Reply

                                                              We're going to need everything we can to see how China & Russia, are going to come at us.. As Obama is killing our Military. These two enemies (yes they are not our friends)are escallating their military spending and spreading it to all our enemies and at the same time. Increasing their power as well... No matter what Obama wants you to think...this power grab of China & Russia is not for the heck of it! It's probably too late as this idiot is spending us into the dark ages...and we'll pay the piper shortley! I pray for my kids, and grandchildren, and am glad I won't live to see the full destruction awaiting this once great ation....

                                                              • 3 votes
                                                              Reply#18 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:23 AM EST

                                                              They otta strap Al Gore to the nosecone.

                                                              • 5 votes
                                                              Reply#19 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:45 AM EST

                                                              Who captions your articles? I hovered my mouse over this story and the caption came up "image: Hanging bags of blood." Excuse me? It was a picture of the capsule and had nothing to do with "bags of blood." What sort of apathetic people do you employ? Isn't anyone overseeing this?

                                                              • 1 vote
                                                              Reply#20 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:45 AM EST

                                                              My guess is that they are overworked outsorced english as a seconed language people.

                                                              • 1 vote
                                                              #20.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:30 AM EST
                                                              Reply

                                                              Since there will be an asteroid aproaching on Friday don't you think it would be wise to wait a week to launch? Unless this is secretly heading to the asteroid. Why? to blow it up because we are all doomed? or will they attach to the asteroid for a free ride thru space or is it what they say it is?

                                                              • 1 vote
                                                              Reply#21 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 9:56 AM EST

                                                              Why should they wait? They know the where the asteroid will be. With sufficient data, the path of an asteroid or other objects can be plotted with amazing accuracy.

                                                              • 1 vote
                                                              #21.1 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:03 AM EST

                                                              They have Bruce Willis loaded in the nose cone also, so he can take out the asteroid at the same time!

                                                              • 3 votes
                                                              #21.2 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:11 AM EST

                                                              My first thought was the timing of the launch seemed foolish, as well !!! According to MSNBC's reporting of the asteroid event, the danger the asteroid poses is to orbiting satellites.

                                                              • 1 vote
                                                              #21.3 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:06 AM EST

                                                              Barry; don't take this wrong but I do not consider the so called accuracy all that great. Last I heard they said they were accurate within something like 10-20,000 miles. that is a pretty wide margin there don't you think?

                                                              I know that space is large and so are some of the asteroids but still that is quite a gap.

                                                              A 10,000 mile difference??????

                                                                #21.4 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 8:31 AM EST

                                                                I think the margin is closer than that now. You also have to consider that perhaps this new satellite will be on the other side of the planet when the asteroid passes through. NASA does a pretty good job of considering space-based hazards. I'm sure that this one didn't slip through.

                                                                • 1 vote
                                                                #21.5 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:04 AM EST

                                                                This is a statement on the NASA/JPL web site. The margin of error is miniscule:

                                                                The small near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass very close to the Earth on
                                                                February 15, 2013, so close that it will pass inside the ring of geosynchronous
                                                                weather and communications satellites. NASA's NEO Program Office can accurately
                                                                predict the asteroid's path with the observations obtained, and it is therefore
                                                                known that there is no chance that the asteroid might be on a collision course
                                                                with the Earth. Nevertheless, the flyby will provide a unique opportunity for
                                                                researchers to study a near-Earth object up close.

                                                                Asteroid 2012 DA14 will be closest to Earth on February 15, 2013 at about
                                                                19:24 GMT (2:24 p.m. EST or 11:24 a.m. PST), when it will be at a distance of
                                                                about 27,700 kilometers (17,200 miles) above the Earth's surface. This is so
                                                                close that the asteroid will actually pass inside the ring of geosynchronous
                                                                satellites, which is located about 35,800 kilometers (22,200 miles) above the
                                                                equator, but still well above the vast majority of satellites, including the
                                                                International Space Station. At its closest, the asteroid will be only about
                                                                1/13th of the distance to the Moon. The asteroid will fly by our planet quite
                                                                rapidly, at a speed of about 7.8 kilometers/second (17,400 miles/hour) in a
                                                                south-to-north direction with respect to the Earth.

                                                                • 2 votes
                                                                #21.6 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:21 AM EST

                                                                Garrie... accuracy improves with each added observation. So over time, the asteroid's orbit becomes known with greater and greater accuracy. Anyway, even if they're 10,000 miles off, Landsat 8 is safe. The asteroid will pass 17,000 miles above Earth (7,000 miles if off 10,000 miles) and Landsat 8 is only going up 430 miles.

                                                                • 1 vote
                                                                #21.7 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:39 AM EST

                                                                . . . because we are all doomed?

                                                                It's true. The earth and we are doomed -- "they're" just not telling us peons about it so we won't have a very long time to agonize over our imminent, excruciating deaths. When this space rock hits, it'll create tsunamis hundreds of feet high and a dust ball that will envelop the planet, obliterating most life on Earth.

                                                                The "chosen" politicians in Washington are covertly packing up ahead of their eventual move to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, where they will think they are safely tucked away -- only to survive and eventually slowly die of hunger anyway. The "ordinary" citizenry of the world, on the other hand, may have a few minutes' warning -- at most -- before complete annihilation.

                                                                This is not just one of those cockamamie conspiracy theories you read and hear about alot. This is the real deal! -- I got this information by accident from a highly reliable government source, who chooses to remain anonymous . . . So, we all might just as well liquidate all of our assets -- while we still have time -- and have one hell of a going away party.

                                                                  #21.8 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:33 PM EST
                                                                  Reply

                                                                  No wonder why Seattle cancelled thier drone project. They will just use this. Why are they burning up tons of Oxygen to send this thing up to tell us how we have globelwarming?

                                                                    Reply#22 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:08 AM EST

                                                                    These phucking minions in power dont give a rats a** about the average American taxpayer. They are spending us into oblivion. But rest assured, when the collapse comes, and it is coming, there will be no place that they can hide. Too bad that meteorite cant land on DC while they are all in one spot.

                                                                      Reply#23 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:10 AM EST

                                                                      Without the space program, you wouldn't have a PC to spew stupidity from.

                                                                      • 2 votes
                                                                      #23.1 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:47 AM EST
                                                                      Reply

                                                                      so when are they going to start removing satilites that are no longer used. we have polluted the earth with trash now we are filling up the skies with it. be respondsible and remove what is no longer being used.

                                                                      • 1 vote
                                                                      Reply#24 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:25 AM EST

                                                                      For the past few years, all NASA satellites missions include "end of life plans" ... whether it is controlled re-entry or boosting to a much higher altitude where the "garbage" won't be a problem.

                                                                        #24.1 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:02 AM EST
                                                                        Reply

                                                                        NASA is gearing up for the Monday launch of an Earth-observation satellite

                                                                        "Yeah right sure" the back of my paranoid head mind says. It's a spy satellite to spy on americans! Or could even be an atomic weapon to destroy that earth bound asteroid they're lying to us about!

                                                                          Reply#26 - Sat Feb 9, 2013 10:34 AM EST

                                                                          And the moon landing happened on a LA sound stage, right??

                                                                            #26.1 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:47 AM EST

                                                                            If it was a spy satellite, why would they announce the launch? Indeed, why would NASA launch it? NASA isn't exactly a secure agency. Spy satellites are launched by the military, unannounced.

                                                                              #26.2 - Sun Feb 10, 2013 11:04 AM EST
                                                                              Reply
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