Valerie L. Thomas is an American data scientist and inventor. She invented the illusion transmitter, for which she received a patent in 1980. She was responsible for developing the digital media formats that image processing systems used in the early years of NASA's Landsat program.
NASA photograph of Thomas next to a stack of early Landsat Computer Compatible Tapes, 1979
The Landsat program is the longest-running enterprise for acquisition of satellite imagery of Earth. It is a joint NASA / USGS program. On 23 July 1972, the Earth Resources Technology Satellite was launched. This was eventually renamed to Landsat 1 in 1975. The most recent, Landsat 9, was launched on 27 September 2021.
Landsat 7, launched in 1999, is the 7th of 9 satellites in the Landsat program.
A false-color satellite image of Kolkata, India, from Landsat 7 in 2004, showing rivers, vegetated areas, and developed areas
The spectral band placement for each sensor of Landsat
One year after launch, Landsat 8 imagery had over one million file downloads by data users.