Source: Earth Resources Technology Satellite Reference Manual
This schematic appears in the ERTS Reference Manual that was prepared by General Electric prior to the Landsat 1 (ERTS-1) launch in 1972.
The schematic shows the Landsat 1 flight profile, from liftoff (0) to spacecraft separation (10).
The manual tells us, “an all-inertial guidance system, consisting of an inertial sensor package and guidance computer, controls the vehicle and sequence of operations from liftoff to spacecraft separation. The flight profile is presented in [this figure] .”
Space Oblique Mercator Projection
June 26, 2014
To continually map the Earth’s surface using Landsat data, an entirely new projection had to be created. This new projection was created by John Parr Snyder and is known as the Space Oblique Mercator (SOM) projection. This projection has been referred to as, “one of the most complex projections ever devised” by Library of Congress cartographic historian, John W. Hessler.
