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Launch Preparations Proceed After Second Go/No Decision

The launch of the GPM Core Observatory is proceeding toward launch at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. Final checks have been made for the operational conditions of the H-IIA launch vehicle, satellites, launch facilities, tracking and control systems, and weather conditions. The process of loading propellant, such as liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, into the rocket has begun. Terminal countdown operations also begun. Access to the launch pad is now restricted within a radius of 400 meters.

Waiting for Launch

Submitted by JacobAdmin on Wed, 02/26/2014
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The Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory is poised for launch from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center, scheduled for the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2014 (EST).

GPM is a joint venture between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. The GPM Core Observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global measurements of rainfall and snowfall from space.

GPM's Launch Pad

GPM's Launch Pad
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GPM's Launch Pad

Launch pad 1 is seen at the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 in Tanegashima, Japan. A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is planned for launch from pad 1 on Feb. 28, 2014. Once launched, 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 Technical Briefing

GPM Technical Briefing
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GPM Technical Briefing

Seated from left: Tatsuo Namikawa, Director, Mitsubishi Launch Site Service Team (MILSET), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Masahiro Kojima, GPM Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar project manager, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Art Azarbarzin, NASA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) project manager, Steven Neeck, NASA Deputy Associate Director, Flight Programs, Earth Science Division, and, Hiroyuki Nagata, Director Range Technology Development Office Space Transportation Mission Directorate, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are seen during a technical briefing for

GPM's Last Stop Before Orbit

Submitted by JacobAdmin on Wed, 02/26/2014
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Art Azarbarzin, NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission project manager, and Mashahiro Kojima, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's GPM/DPR project manager, reflect on the long journey the GPM Core Observatory spacecraft has taken to reach its last stop before orbit, the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, from where the mission's Core Observatory is scheduled to launch on the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2014 (EST).

GPM Confirmed for Launch

The GPM Core Observatory has received a green light for launch! On the morning of Feb. 26 (Japan time) at Tanegashima Space Center, chief officers from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA reviewed the readiness of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory for launch on an H-IIA rocket on Feb. 28 (Japan time). All launch vehicle and launch facility actions relevant to the GPM launch were reported complete. The review panel gave the approval to proceed with launch. The GPM launch site at Tanegashima Space Center Image Credit

GPM Launch Site at Tanegashima Space Center

GPM Launch Site at Tanegashima Space Center
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GPM Launch Site at Tanegashima Space Center

Launch pad 1 is seen at the Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC) on Monday, Feb. 24, 2014 in Tanegashima, Japan. A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is planned for launch from pad 1 on Feb. 28, 2014. Once launched, 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)

Pyrotechnics and Fueling for HII-A Rocket

On Tuesday, Feb. 25 (Japan time) at the Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, pyrotechnics were connected on the H-IIA launch vehicle that will carry the NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory into space. In addition, the attitude control system that will control the second stage of the launch vehicle was fueled. Live launch coverage from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., begins on NASA Television at 12noon EST on Thursday, Feb. 27. Watch online at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Checks Performed on HII-A Rocket Electrical and Propulsion Systems

The NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is on schedule to liftoff from Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan during a launch window that opens in just over 52 hours (Thursday, Feb. 27 at 1:07 p.m. EST). Launch services provider Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) performed checks on the propulsion and electrical systems on the H-IIA rocket that will carry the GPM Core Observatory into space.

GPM Launch Rehearsal

GPM Launch Rehearsal
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A good luck "Daruma Doll" is seen amongst the NASA GPM Mission launch team in the Spacecraft Test and Assembly Building 2 (STA2)

A good luck "Daruma Doll" is seen amongst the NASA GPM Mission launch team in the Spacecraft Test and Assembly Building 2 (STA2) during the all-day launch simulation for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014, Tanegashima Space Center (TNSC), Tanegashima Island, Japan. One eye of the daruma doll is colored in when a goal is set, in this case a successful launch of GPM, and the second eye is colored in at the completion of the goal.

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