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[Music]

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our oceans connect us

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a vast network of waterways supporting

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the global transit of almost 80 percent

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of all goods that's nearly 11 billion

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tons of food medicine and many items we

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rely on in our daily lives

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with coastlines constantly changing how

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do large ships safely navigate these

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waterways with shallow water features

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such as reefs and shoals it is essential

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to have accurate maps so ships can avoid

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these serious navigation hazards

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in the summer of 1975 jacques cousteau

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and nasa teamed up with landsat

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satellites to see if the same technology

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that discovered new coral reefs

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corrected coastline maps and revealed

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uncharted islands could also measure

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shallow water depth from space by the

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radio we get the information

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measurements of water depth or

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bathymetry allow scientists to chart the

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marine landscape

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and just as aerial photography

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revolutionized topographic mapping

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scientists had a hunch that satellite

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observations could do the same for

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bathymetry

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the 1970s ushered in a new era of global

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maritime trade and an unprecedented

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demand for crude oil resulting in the

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design of ultra large crude carriers or

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super tankers capable of carrying up to

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30 times more oil than previous tankers

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just one of these massive ships could

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cause a catastrophic environmental

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disaster spilling millions of gallons of

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crude oil if they ran aground

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a leading voice of marine

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environmentalism at the time was jacques

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cousteau

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the world's most famous aquanaut he

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expanded the growing conservation

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awareness from the land to the seas and

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set the groundwork for the ocean

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environmental movement

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the newly launched landsat satellites

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provided a new vantage point from above

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and opened up a world of possibilities

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for ocean monitoring from space

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through george lowe the deputy

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administrator of nasa cousteau connected

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with russell schweikart a former apollo

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9 skylab astronaut together the aquanaut

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and the astronaut embarked on a

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three-week long expedition to find out

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whether landsat satellites could make

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accurate bathymetry measurements

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a team was assembled cousteau and his

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experienced divers

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rusty schweichart a jet flying scuba

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diving astronaut nasa and university

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scientists and the president's son jack

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ford an experienced scuba diver

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but they still needed a radio operator

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to coordinate the experiment's

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satellite-based communications

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david leichenheim a 23 year old

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engineering student overheard a nasa

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scientist talking about the position

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and i raised my hand and said i'll leave

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tomorrow i was first to go to goddard

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space flight center and get some

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training on the gear that was on the

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calypso as a radio slash communications

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engineer

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the calypso was a 1942

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wooden mine sweeper very narrow and

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maximum speed was 10 knots was very slow

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but the ship did what it was supposed to

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do it was equipped with a mobile

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laboratory or underwater research and

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also had a lot of satellite gear for

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communications

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so i had some training for a week or two

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figuring out orbits and locations of the

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satellites and then i was off to

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david met cousteau and his team as they

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prepared the calypso to set sail for the

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bahama islands

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there the clear waters of the western

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atlantic provided the perfect test site

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for measuring water depth from space

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eventually we moved to the bahama area

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to do this landsat coordinated effort

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with another research vessel called the

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biandan

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beautiful sailboat actually it was

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outfitted for scientific experiments

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such as water salinity tests and whatnot

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so they followed the calypso around

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pretty much all of the bahamas where we

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were coordinating with landsat

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beyond then calypso the divers all this

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was

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part of this coordinated plan

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my role on a daily basis was morning and

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afternoon i would give the captain a

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polaroid that had a picture of the local

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area showing any weather patterns that

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might have cropped up in addition to

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that my job was to ensure good

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communications between the zodiacs that

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the divers were on the beyond then also

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rusty schweikart who flew the nasa t-38

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jet at high altitude and i would

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coordinate with the landsat group via

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goddard space flight center all those

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things had to be coordinated closely for

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[Music]

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once in position the calypso and biondan

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recorded the water's depth using their

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sonar

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then as a landsat satellite passed

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overhead the ships and diving teams made

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a series of precisely timed measurements

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as cousteau's chief diver for the

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expedition bernard delamont recalls by

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the radio we get the information of

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calipso who said go now

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that was the signal for the zodiac

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divers to start making their

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visibility horizontally

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each night the boats sailed 90 nautical

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miles westward to the next experiment

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site

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and were ready to take new measurements

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when landsat passed overhead in the

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after deciding where we would position

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the ships we would move throughout the

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area we were in nassau we were aluthra

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northwest channel bimini berry islands

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we would hopscotch back and forth

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[Music]

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with the detailed measurements taken by

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cousteau and his team nasa scientists

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demonstrated that in similar conditions

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depths of up to 72 feet could be

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those early satellite-derived bathymetry

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measurements revealed previously unknown

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shoals uncharted reefs and other

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navigational hazards and also helped

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revise charts of clear water coastal

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areas making sailing safer around the

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world

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this work gave birth to the field of

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satellite-derived bathymetry and the

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field continues to evolve today with

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missions like icesat 2.

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the experiment also had a profound

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this expedition changed my life

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i

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returned to maryland and then got a job

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at goddard space flight center

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since 1972 landsat satellites have been

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steadfast observers of our changing

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planet making more and better

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landsat 9 the newest satellite in the

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series will continue recording the

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spectral story of earth's ever-changing

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land surfaces and coastal waters