A brief description of the instrument and the mission operations are available in the sections below:

Sensor Description  |   Mission Operations Overview    

The Return-Beam Vidicon (RBV) instrument was flown on board Landsat 1- 3. It consisted of three co-aligned television cameras, one for each spectral band (band 1: blue-green, band 2: yellow-red, band 3: NIR). RBV measurements of reflected solar radiation were only conducted in daylight. The three earth-oriented cameras were mounted to a common base, which was structurally isolated from the spacecraft to maintain accurate alignment. Each camera contained an optical lens, a 5.08 cm RBV, a thermoelectric cooler, deflection and focus coils, a mechanical shutter, erase lamps, and sensor electronics. The cameras were similar except for the spectral filters contained in the lens assemblies that provided separate spectral viewing regions.

Further information on the RBV instrument on board Landsat 1-3 is available here.