8 out-of-this-world images of Earth taken by Landsat satellites

The following amazing images of Earth from space were snapped by satellites in the Landsat project, a joint venture between NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey. The project is the longest continuous space-based record of Earth in existence.

A total of eight Landsat satellites have been launched into space since 1972, with a ninth set to launch in September. In that time, the satellites have captured more than 9 million images of the planet's surface, which have been used in more than 18,000 scientific papers, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.