Landsat 3
Landsat 3 extended the Landsat Earth-resources record after launch on March 5, 1978. It improved Return Beam Vidicon spatial resolution to 40 metres and added a thermal-infrared channel to the Multispectral Scanner. That experimental thermal channel failed shortly after launch, so it did not provide a sustained thermal record. The mission's visible and near-infrared observations supported land-use, agriculture and environmental monitoring.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Earth Resources Technology Satellite-CERTS-CLandsat-CLandsat III
- Name
- Landsat 3
- Status
- completed
Details
- Astronauts
- -
- Description
- Landsat 3 extended the Landsat Earth-resources record after launch on March 5, 1978. It improved Return Beam Vidicon spatial resolution to 40 metres and added a thermal-infrared channel to the Multispectral Scanner. That experimental thermal channel failed shortly after launch, so it did not provide a sustained thermal record. The mission's visible and near-infrared observations supported land-use, agriculture and environmental monitoring.
- Destination
- Polar, sun-synchronous orbit at 917 km (99.2° inclination) for multispectral land imaging, thermal-infrared sensing, and Landsat program continuity
- End Date
- 1983-09-07
- Launch Site
- Programs
- Start Date
- 1978-03-05
- Vehicle Families
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/landsat-3/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 14, 2026 at 22:10:53 UTC
- Updated Time
- October 29, 2026 at 15:09:09 UTC
Other
- Affiliations
- Space Stations
- -
- Vehicles