Source: USGS Landsat Update
Electronic access to the entire USGS Landsat 7 archive, enabling users to download standard-format scenes at no charge, has been an amazing success, with over 80,000 scenes downloaded since October 1st. The rest of the USGS archive, from Landsat 1 through Landsat 5, will be released by December 30, 2008. At that time, only the standard-format, “web-enabled” product will be available to users from the USGS. Thus, customers who wish to purchase currently available Landsat 1-5 products are encouraged to submit their orders by Friday, December 5. The USGS expects tremendous demand for Landsat 5 data during January and February. While numerous Landsat 5 scenes will be preprocessed and placed on a USGS server for instant download, most of the historical Landsat 1-5 scenes requested by users will need to be processed and then placed on a server. To help prevent large system backlogs, users are asked to please restrict data requests to their immediate needs and order no more than 25 Landsat scenes per day until further notice. For more information, see the USGS Landsat website or email Customer Service at custserv@usgs.gov.