NASA's latest Earth-observation satellite blasted off today (Feb. 11), continuing a storied four-decade effort to track environmental change and resource use across the planet.

The Landsat Data Continuity Missionlaunched today at 1:02 p.m. EST (1802 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, riding a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket into space without any apparent hitches.

The $855 million LDCM spacecraft is the eighth satellite in the history of the Landsat program, a joint NASA/United States Geological Survey (USGS) project that has been monitoring forest loss, glacial retreat, urban sprawl and other phenomena continuously since Landsat 1 lifted off in July 1972. [Photos: The Next Landsat Earth-Observing Spacecraft]

LDCM is the most capable and advanced Landsat spacecraftyet, and its successful launch could extend the program's legacy another decade or so into the future, researchers said.

"LDCM will continue to describe the human impact on Earth and the impact of Earth on humanity, which is vital for accommodating seven billion people on our planet," LDCM project manager Ken Schwer, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told reporters Feb. 8 during a prelaunch press briefing.

Eagle eyes from orbit

The SUV-size LDCM satellite will eventually settle into a polar orbit with an altitude of 438 miles (705 kilometers). NASA will conduct key checkouts of the spacecraft over the next three months, after which it will be turned over to the USGS for operations and renamed Landsat 8.

Landsat 8 will peer down at Earth with two sensitive instruments. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) will collect data in visible, near infrared and shortwave infrared wavelengths, while the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) will measure surface temperatures around the planet.

Like its predecessors, Landsat 8 will acquire images with a spatial resolution of 98 feet (30 meters). It will send about 400 pictures per day to ground stations in South Dakota, Alaska and Norway.

By tracking urban expansion, natural resource use, global ice loss and other phenomena, Landsat 8 will help scientists and policymakers better understand how the growing human population is affecting the planet, researchers said.

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NASA Launches Advanced Landsat Earth-Watching Satellite Into Orbit