Landsat Island is a small, uninhabited island located off the northeast coast of Labrador (part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador). It was discovered in 1976 during the analysis of imagery from the Landsat 1 satellite. The island is only , with a total area of .
Discovery In 1976, Elizabeth (Betty) Fleming of the Topographical Survey of Canada studied imagery from the Landsat 1 satellite from 1973 and 1974 to find uncharted hydrographic features off the Labrador coast. She identified a handful of potential features, and a field survey was subsequently conducted by the Canadian Hydrographic Service to investigate these features. This survey found Landsat Island, which was subsequently named after the satellite, along with eight uncharted rocks. According to Frank Hall of the Canadian Hydrographic Service, who was part of one of the survey's helicopter parties, he had a close call with a polar bear on the island:
Following Hall's encounter with the polar bear, it was suggested that the island be named "Polar Island", but the present name was retained.
Landsat Island marks the easternmost point of the Canadian land mass along this section of the Labrador coast. As such, its discovery increased Canada's maritime territory by .
References
External links
NASA article: Landsat Island (April 19, 2006)
NASA video: The Island Named After a Satellite The Last Island Discovered | Landstat Island