For its part, Landsat 8 has enough fuel for about a decade of operations, researchers said. The Landsat 8 spacecraft and the OLI instrument have design lives of five years, and TIRS was built to last at least three years.

"We hope that the spacecraft and the instruments will last well beyond their design lives, and we can continue to collect data for at least 10 years," said mission project scientist Jim Irons, of NASA Goddard.

• Lift-Off! Latest 'Eyes-On-Earth' Satellite Begins Mission | Video
• Liftoff! Launch Photos for NASA's Advanced Landsat 8 Mission
• Earth From Space: Landsat Satellites' 40-Year Legacy Explained (Infographic)

Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

3 Comments

1. 1. Carlyle 01:37 AM 2/13/13

   So why will it not also be reporting on ice gain in Antarctica? Or for that matter, the fastest ice gain on record for the Arctic? Is it in other words only going to report on things that support AGW or is that just the expectation of Mike Wall & Space.com ?

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

2. 2. Wayne Williamson 05:56 PM 2/14/13

   Carlyle...good point...atleast about the reporting...I'm sure the sat doesn't care either way(gain or loss)...I don't know where you got that the arctic is gaining ice...In fact I think they are going to start drilling there because of the melt.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this

3. 3. Carlyle in reply to Wayne Williamson 11:12 PM 2/14/13

   The Arctic ice Extent has grown faster from its record summer low, than has ever been recorded before. Atarctic sea ice has been growing for thirty years but to a lesser extent. At present the combined Arctic & Antarctic ice extent exceeds any time in the satelite record. A new report though that the remaining ice in the arctic is thinner than previously.
   http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this