The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) is one of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

's observing

sensors A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...

introduced in the

Landsat program The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA / United States Geological Survey, USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Landsa ...

. A Multispectral Scanner was placed aboard each of the first five Landsat satellites. : "The Multispectral Scanner System", NASA Official: Darrel Williams Website Curator: Laura Rocchio Site last updated: December 2, 2008 The scanner was designed at

Hughes Aerospace The Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded on February 14, 1934 by Howard Hughes in Glendale, California, as a division of the Hughes Tool Company. The company produced the Hughes H-4 Hercules air ...

by Virginia Norwood. Her design called for a six band scanner, but the first one launched had only four bands. For her work on the design Norwood is called "The Mother of Landsat."

MSS technical specifications

Notes

External links

NASA Multispectral Scanner page
* Satellite imaging sensors {{US-spacecraft-stub