Landsat 5 Resumes Operations

Landsat 5 is back in operation after imaging operations were temporarily suspended due to technical difficulties. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and NASA engineers were able to adjust the operating procedures for the solar array drive mechanism, providing enough power for the mission to resume normal operations. Consequently, acquisition operations have begun over the conterminous U.S., and the international stations will be brought on line in the coming weeks.

The solar array drive mechanism began exhibiting problems in late November 2005. The rotation of the solar array drive became sporadic and the solar array was not able to provide the power needed to charge the batteries. As a precaution, imaging operations were suspended until the problem was identified and potential solutions were evaluated and tested.