Eyes on Earth Episode 108 – Landsat 8’s 100th Drag Make-Up Maneuver

The Landsat Program is considered the gold standard for satellite Earth-observation imagery. To keep it that way, the USGS EROS Flight Operations Team continually monitors the flight paths of the Landsat satellites to make sure they stay at a consistent 705-kilometer altitude. That means frequently speeding it up to counter the effects of atmospheric drag. But that’s not all. The team accounts for solar activity, space junk, and other factors to keep the satellites safe. Landsat 8’s 100^th^ Drag Make-Up maneuver in October 2023 gives us the opportunity, in this episode of Eyes on Earth, to talk about these and the other maneuvers the flight team executes and how they work.