Landsat Science

Landsat Science

Landsat Science

Tag: Astronaut photography

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A side-by-side image comparison of the Persian Gulf as seen by the Gemini-12 spacecraft (left) and the Landsat 8 satellite (right). The Gemini-12 photograph shows Iran, Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Trucial Oman, Muscat and Oman, Zagros Mountains, and Qeshm Island. On the right is the natural-color Landsat 8 image of the Persian Gulf and Qeshm Island acquired on November 21, 2024. In the image, deep ocean is dark blue, sediment surrounding an island off the coast is turquoise, and bare earth is tan. The Gemini-12 photo was captured during its 54th revolution of the Earth in 1966.

How Early Astronaut Photographs Inspired the Landsat Program

September 26, 2025

In the 1960s, NASA was pioneering a new era of human spaceflight—and astronaut photography—that would change Earth observation forever.