The Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962 In the fall of 1962, there were unconfirmed reports that the Soviets were installing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba. Remotely sensed imagery from satellites, and especially from high flying U-2 airplanes, provided incontrovertible proof that the rumors were true. The resulting confrontation between Soviet Premier Khrushchev and US President John F. Kennedy in October 1962 brought the world to the brink of war. Both superpowers relied heavily on interpretations of remotely sensed images to make their assessments and decisions.

Apollo Program The mission to the Moon needed maps of the lunar surface, especially of the proposed landing sites. These were prepared using remote sensing techniques. Apollo 8 returned the first pictures of the Earth from deep space (1968). Images from the Apollo 9 multispectral four-lens camera were digitized and used to develop techniques for processing Landsat data, which, in 1969, was still four years away.

Civilian Satellite Remote Sensing: 1972 In late July 1972 NASA launched the first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1). The multispectral data provided by the on-board sensors led to an improved understanding of crops, minerals, soils, urban growth, and many other Earth features and processes. The name of the satellite, and those that followed, was soon changed to a more pleasant-sounding Landsat. Landsats 2 through 5 have provided more data about the Earth than can ever be analyzed. The program is so successful that it continues even today, with Landsat 7 being planned.