The Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory is performing normally.

On March 12, the GPM Core Observatory fired its thrusters for a 30-second check-out of their performance. The burn, called a delta-v, changes the velocity of the spacecraft to adjust the altitude of its orbit. This week's short maneuver did not greatly alter the satellite's orbit but was used instead for further calibration of the thrusters.

Functional checkout activities and internal calibration of the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar continued this week.

Both DPR and the GPM Microwave Imager have begun collecting data on rain and snow, and the science team at the Precipitation Processing System at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. has begun the process of verifying data accuracy. Precipitation data will be released no later than 6 months post-launch.