NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite in payload fairing

Technicians encapsulate NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) satellite in its payload fairing in the Astrotech processing facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is NASA's eighth satellite in the Landsat series and continues the Landsat program's critical role in monitoring, understanding and managing the resources needed for human sustainment such as food, water and forests. 

As our population surpasses seven billion people, the impact of human society on the planet will increase, and Landsat monitors those impacts as well as environmental changes.

Image credit: NASA/VAFB