An independent panel will review the work of the spacecraft vendor to understand system requirements in a number of areas, including being able to control the orientation of Landsat 9 through attitude control, how much redundancy is built into the spacecraft, and how much fuel will be onboard.
Reviewers will also look at fault management capabilities, which include hardware and software features used to address any potential problems that may arise in orbit. This is the final such review before full-scale spacecraft design and development begins.
Scenes from the Polar Night
Landsat satellites have begun regularly acquiring images of ice at the poles during the winter, with enlightening results.