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The Earth Observer: Sept - Oct, 2021

Volume 33, Issue 5

In This Issue

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  • In Memoriam
  • Gail Skofronick–Jackson4
  • Feature Article
  • Open-Source Science: The NASA Earth Science Perspective5
  • In The News
  • NASA at Your Table: The Space Agency’s Surprising Role in Agriculture10
  • ECOSTRESS Data Incorporated into New Wildfire Response Tool 12
  • Trapped Saltwater Caused Mangrove Death After Hurricane Irma, NASA Data Show14
  • Passing Clouds Cause Some Marine Animals to Make Mini-Migrations During the Day16
  • Announcement
  • GLOBE Program Receives Prestigious Award from AGU15
  • Regular Features
  • NASA Earth Science in the News17
  • Earth Science Meeting and Workshop Calendar19

The Editor’s Corner
Steve Platnick
EOS Senior Project Scientist

On September 27, 2021, at 11:12 AM Pacific Daylight Time, a United Earth Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket slipped through the thin marine layer of clouds hanging over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, carrying the Landsat 9 satellite (as well as four CubeSats1) into orbit. About 80 minutes later, the ground station in Svalbard, Norway, acquired a signal from Landsat 9, much to the delight of the launch team. The mission is now conducting checkouts of its two instruments—the Operational Land Imager–2 (OLI-2) and Thermal Infrared Sensor–2 (TIRS-2)—before beginning to acquire data.

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