"If the weather holds, NASA will launch its newest Earth-observing satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base in southern California late Monday morning."

"An Atlas V rocket is scheduled to carry Landsat 8 into space just after 2 p.m. Eastern time. Once in orbit, the $855 million probe will begin capturing detailed images of Earth’s surface, adding to an unbroken record that began with Landsat 1 in 1972.

'Since the launch of Landsat 1, we have seen and we have caused dramatic changes to the global land surface that continue today at rates unprecedented in human history,' Jim Irons, a project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, told reporters in January. “These changes are due to increasing population, advancing technologies and climate change.'"

Lauren Morello reports for Climate Central February 10, 2013. [2]