NASA 'passes key' for control of Landsat 9 satellite to EROS team in Sioux Falls Thursday

Symmone Gauer, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read
Cathy Richardson speaks in front of a crowd at a ceremony celebrating the Landsat 9 satellite's change in from from NASA to the USGS. The ceremony was held at EROS outside Sioux Falls on Thursday, August 11.
Cathy Richardson speaks in front of a crowd at a ceremony celebrating the Landsat 9 satellite's change in from from NASA to the USGS. The ceremony was held at EROS outside Sioux Falls on Thursday, August 11.

NASA officially gave control of the Landsat 9 satellite to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) during a ceremony at the Earth Resources Observation and Science Center (EROS) on Thursday.

EROS, north of Sioux Falls near Garretson, operates the two satellites currently in orbit, Landsat 8 and 9, with Landsat 9 having been launched last year on September 27 from a base in California.

Public data from the Landsat series, which was started in 1972, are used in projects such as those surrounding forests, land-use, agriculture, water monitoring, disasters and urban development.

Earlier: Here’s how a newly-launched NASA satellite is connected to Sioux Falls

The program has provided continuous record of Earth observations for 50 years — the only program to do so.

The Landsat 9 satellite slated to lift off at 11:12 a.m. Monday from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The effort is a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Landsat 9 satellite slated to lift off at 11:12 a.m. Monday from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The effort is a joint mission of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.

NASA builds and launches each Landsat satellite, after which the U.S. Geological Survey take ownership and operates the system that collects and maintains the data at the EROS Center.

The ceremony on Thursday featured remarks from people such as Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo, and acting Director of the USGS David Applegate.

More: Lewis & Clark Water System ribbon cutting signals bright future for tri-state communities

"This is a celebration. It is a celebration about a handoff. It's a celebration about technology, a celebration of sustainable land imaging," Applegate said. "But at its heart, it is a celebration of a 50-year partnership that is still going strong."

Other speakers included acting director of EROS Pete Doucett, NASA program executive Mike Egan and Cathy Richardson, deputy director of NASA's Flight Projects Directorate, as well as Chris Crawford at EROS and Curtis Woodcock from Boston University.

Officials with NASA and the USGS hold a ceremonial key celebrating the official transfer of power for the Landsat 9 satellite to the USGS from NASA. The ceremony was held at EROS outside Sioux Falls on Thursday, August 11.
Officials with NASA and the USGS hold a ceremonial key celebrating the official transfer of power for the Landsat 9 satellite to the USGS from NASA. The ceremony was held at EROS outside Sioux Falls on Thursday, August 11.

The celebration concluded with the signing of the certificate that transferred control to the USGS and the handing over of a large symbolic key.

"This is truly something unique that happened at Goddard (NASA) and with our USGS partners," Cathy Richardson said. "[The Landsat team has) certainly set a precedent to which we can achieve with ingenuity and dedication."

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: NASA gives control of Landsat 9 satellite to EROS team in Sioux Falls