United Launch Alliance (ULA), the LDCM launch vehicle provider with vehicle assembly facilities in Decatur, Alabama, flew the first stage of the LDCM Atlas V 401 launch vehicle from Alabama to Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on August 27, 2012 aboard an Antonov AN-124 aircraft. The Atlas V lower stage is the first major LDCM subsystem shipped to the launch site.

Above the Earth, Below the Surface: Landsat’s Role in Monitoring Water Quality
Safeguarding freshwater resources is crucial, and while scientists use a variety of ground-based techniques to gauge water quality, the Landsat program has provided water quality data from orbit for decades.