Reviewing 27 years of environmental discovery and previewing new ways of looking at our world, NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey will brief reporters on the April launch of Landsat 7.

The last in a series that began with the Landsat 1 in 1972, Landsat 7 will gather data from Earth's land surface and surrounding coastal regions. Analysis of the data will provide scientists with new information on deforestation, receding glaciers and crop monitoring. The data also will be available commercially for land-use planning and urban development issues.

The briefing will be held at 1 p.m. EST March 31 in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St., SW, Washington, DC. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch on April 15 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, atop a Delta II rocket. After the satellite has been launched and checked out, NASA will turn it over to the Geological Survey to manage.

At the briefing, officials from NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey will review some of the notable successes of the Landsat program and outline Landsat 7's mission. Scientists have used Landsat data to study the effects of the Mount St. Helens eruption, deforestation in the Amazon and urban growth in Washington, DC, and Shanghai. NASA officials also will preview upcoming events in NASA's Earth Science program, including this year's launch of the first Earth Observing System satellite.

The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV with two-way question-and-answer capability for reporters at NASA centers. NASA Television is broadcast on the GE2 satellite located on transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, frequency 3880.0 Mhz, audio 6.8 MHz.

Additional Contacts:

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202-358-1730)

Lynn Chandler
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301-614-5562)