Landsat 3 in the cleanroom.
Landsat 3 in the cleanroom.

The Details

  • Launch Date: March 5, 1978
  • Status: put into standby mode: March 31, 1983; decommissioned: Sept. 7, 1983
  • Sensors: RBV, MSS
  • Altitude: nominally 900 km
  • Inclination: 99.2°
  • Orbit: polar, sun-synchronous
  • Equatorial Crossing Time: nominally 9:42 AM mean local time (descending node)
  • Period of Revolution : 103 minutes; ~14 orbits/day
  • Repeat Coverage : 18 days

+ read about the history of Landsat 3

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