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The Earth Observer: Jul - Aug, 2021

Volume 33, Issue 4

In This Issue

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  • Feature Article
  • The Legacy Continues: Landsat 9 Moves Landsat Toward a Golden Milestone4
  • Meeting/Workshop Summaries
  • Summary of the Thirty-Fourth and Thirty-Fifth CERES Science Team Meetings15
  • In The News
  • Major Ocean-Observing Satellite Starts Providing Science Data20
  • Pathfinder Satellite Paves Way for Constellation of Tropical-Storm Observers21
  • NASA Maps Air Quality in Ozone Hot Spot23
  • Announcement
  • NASA Invites You to Create Landsat-Inspired Arts and Crafts13
  • Regular Features
  • NASA Earth Science in the News25
  • Earth Science Meeting and Workshop Calendar27

The Editor’s Corner

Steve Platnick

EOS Senior Project Scientist

This Editorial reports on one successful launch, another scheduled for September, and new results from two existing missions–yet more evidence of continuing progress despite ongoing challenges imposed by the pandemic. NASA’s Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats (TROPICS) Pathfinder mission successfully launched on June 30, 2021, onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as part of the SpaceX Transporter-2 mission that deployed 88 small satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits. A major initial challenge was locating and identifying the TROPICS Pathfinder satellite among 87 others. The MIT Lincoln Laboratory team worked with a number of satellite operators to execute a coordinated and systematic search.

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