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Handover of GPM Key
Handover of GPM Key
JacobAdmin Fri, 05/30/2014
Image Caption
On May 29, GPM Deputy Project Manager Candace Carlisle (left) handed over the "key" to the GPM Core Observatory to GPM Mission Director James Pawloski (center, blue shirt).

Also pictured, left to right, Wynn Watson, Art Azarbarzin, Gail Skofronick-Jackson and David Ward.
 

Daruma Doll Delivery
Daruma Doll Delivery
JacobAdmin Fri, 05/30/2014
Image Caption
In the Mission Operations Center on May 16, 2014, GPM's NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency project managers deliver the completed Daruma doll to the members of the Flight Operations team that completed the spacecraft's check-out.
Coloring in the Daruma Doll Eye
Coloring in the Duruma Doll Eye
JacobAdmin Fri, 05/30/2014
Image Caption
On May 16, 2014, GPM project managers Art Azarbarzin (left, NASA) and Masahiro Kojima (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) color in the second eye of a Daruma doll, a Japanese tradition for reaching goals.

This signifies the successful completion of on-orbit check out of the GPM Core Observatory.

GPM Power Positive, Stable, and Communicating

The GPM spacecraft is power positive, stable on the sun line and communicating with the GPM Mission Operations Center (MOC) at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The GPM flight control teams at NASA Goddard are studying a situation with the spacecraft where the satellite is gaining a small amount of rotational momentum. In a normal state, there are environmental forces on the spacecraft that are corrected by the momentum wheels and magnetic torquer bars. At this time, the momentum wheels are being used more than expected. This situation does not pose any threat to the health of

NASA & JAXA Launch GPM Satellite

NASA & JAXA Launch Satellite to Measure Global Rain and Snow
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), thundered into space at 1:37 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 27 (3:37 a.m. JST Friday, Feb. 28) from Japan. A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from the Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, Japan. Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls The four-ton spacecraft launched aboard a Japanese H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space...
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GPM Launches from Tanegashima Space Center
GPM Launches from Tanegashima Space Center
JacobAdmin Thu, 02/27/2014
Image Caption
GPM Launches from Tanegashima Space Center

A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from the Tanegashima Space Center, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima, Japan. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

GPM Launches from Tanegashima Space Center
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JacobAdmin Thu, 02/27/2014

A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from the Tanegashima Space Center, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours.

GPM Liftoff

GPM Liftoff
Image Caption
GPM Liftoff
A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from the Tanegashima Space Center, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014, Tanegashima, Japan. The GPM spacecraft will collect information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
GPM Power Positive JacobAdmin Thu, 02/27/2014
The GPM Core Observatory has successfully deployed its solar arrays and is stable and pointed at the sun. GPM’s solar arrays are pointed at the sun and collecting power. We have confirmation that the arrays are rotating properly, charging the batteries and providing power to the spacecraft.

Solar Array Deployment Begins

Solar array deployment begins. GPM has two arrays to power the spacecraft because of its orbit. It circles the Earth at an angle slanted 65 degrees up from the equator. This means it does not cross the equator at the same time every day – an advantage for monitoring rainfall at different times of day and night.
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