Visualization of the GPM Core Observatory in space over a hurricane with constellation satellites in the background.

Mission Articles

GPM 10-in-10 Earth's water banner
March 14, 2024, 8 p.m. ET Overview On March 22 we celebrate World Water Day! For the next in our GPM 10-in-10 webinar series, join NASA scientists to learn all about freshwater, Earth’s most precious resource. Find out how and why NASA keeps track of Earth's limited freshwater resources and discover how you can monitor precipitation yourself as a citizen scientist working with CoCoRaHS and the GLOBE Program . Guest speakers include John Bolten, Chris Kidd, Noah Newman, Marilé Colón Robles, and Dorian Janney. Resources Webinar 2 Recording Resource Packet About the Speakers John Bolten John is
GPM 10 Year Banner
Celebrate the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission's 10th Anniversary! The NASA / JAXA GPM Core Observatory satellite launched on Feb. 27, 2014 from Tanagashima Space Center in Japan, marking the start of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission . We will celebrate this ten-year anniversary throughout 2024 with special events and opportunities. We invite all of you to join us as we share how this international constellation has improved life around the globe. About GPM The GPM Mission & Core Observatory Satellite GPM Applications & Societal Benefits IMERG - A Global Map of Earth's Rain
GPM Core Observatory data of precipitation within Typhoon Mawar
Driven by powerful winds and intense rainfall, Typhoon Mawar emerged as a rapidly intensifying storm in the western Pacific Ocean. Originating from a tropical disturbance, the typhoon swiftly developed into a significant weather system, eventually making landfall on the U.S. territory of Guam on May 25, 2023, as a Category 4 typhoon. After hitting Guam, it further intensified into a Category 5 typhoon, making it one of the most powerful storms on record in the month of May. Download this video from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio The combination of NASA’s IMERG precipitation
20 Years of IMERG - Resources
NASA Announces Long-term IMERG Satellite Record: A Near-Global 19-year Perspective on Rain and Snow NASA has just released its newest estimate of rain and snow covering the past 19 years. It's code name: Version 6 IMERG. NASA's IMERG -- the Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM -- combines information from whatever constellation of satellites are operating in Earth orbit at a given time, to estimate precipitation over the majority of the Earth's surface. This algorithm is particularly valuable over the majority of the Earth's surface that lacks precipitation-measuring instruments on...
Two Decades of Precipitation Measurement
NASA’s Precipitation Measurement Missions (PMM) have collected rain and snowfall from space for nearly 20 years, and for the first time in 2019, scientists can access PMM’s entire record as one data set. PMM includes two missions – the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), which orbited Earth from 1997 to 2015, and its successor, the joint NASA-JAXA Global Precipitation Measurement mission (GPM), which has been collecting data since 2014. This year, however, the GPM project upgraded its data algorithms to calibrate and incorporate TRMM data into its release, giving researchers, modelers...
5 Years of Global Precipitation Measurement
Download this video in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio Five years ago, on Feb. 27, 2014, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a joint satellite project by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), lifted off aboard a Japanese H-IIA rocket. Since then, the cutting-edge instruments on GPM have provided advanced measurements about the rain and snow particles within clouds, Earth’s precipitation patterns, extreme weather and myriad ways precipitation around the world affects society. Among the uses of GPM data are helping...
GPM Applications Logo
For the past 5 years GPM data has provided critical information to end-users to further our understanding of Earth's water cycle and to facilitate decision‐making at local and global scales. Building on the legacy of TRMM, the use of high‐quality precipitation data provided by GPM, with global coverage, has enabled new science research and data applications to benefit society across a diverse range of applications including water resource and ecological management, operational numerical weather prediction, disease prediction, and disaster modeling and response. Here are five highlights of the...
A New Multi-dimensional View of a Hurricane
Download in high resolution from the NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio NASA researchers now can use a combination of satellite observations to re-create multi-dimensional pictures of hurricanes and other major storms in order to study complex atmospheric interactions. In this video, they applied those techniques to Hurricane Matthew. When it occurred in the fall of 2016, Matthew was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in almost ten years. Its torrential rains and winds caused significant damage and loss of life as it coursed through the Caribbean and up along the southern U.S...
TRMM wins the 2016 Group Pecora Award
The William T. Pecora Award is presented annually to individuals or groups that make outstanding contributions toward understanding the Earth by means of remote sensing. The award is sponsored jointly by the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The award was established in 1974 to honor the memory of Dr. William T. Pecora, former Director of the U.S. Geological Survey and Under Secretary, Department of the Interior. Dr. Pecora was a motivating force behind the establishment of a program for civil remote sensing of the Earth from space...
A Global Tour of Precipitation from NASA
Credits: NASA/Goddard This video and related visualizations are public domain and can be downloaded at the Scientific Visualization Studio Precipitation (falling rain and snow) is our fresh water reservoir in the sky and is fundamental to life on Earth. A Global Tour of Precipitation from NASA shows how rain and snowfall moves around the world from the vantage of space using measurements from the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory, or GPM . This is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and offers the most detailed and worldwide view of...
Making Science Fun for Kids Through Comics
To get young students reading about science, NASA is trying something different. Instead of a press release or a scientific paper, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission has launched a Japanese manga-style comic book. GPM, a satellite collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, provides global estimates of rain and snow every three hours using advanced instruments. In spring 2013, a GPM Anime Challenge was held for artists from around the world aged 13 years and up to develop an anime-themed character for teaching students about the GPM mission. By...
<iframe width="490" height="276" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oiGzKmfOvkg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
As we enter the new year, take a look back at the snowstorms, tropical storms, typhoons, hurricanes and floods captured and analyzed by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission from around the globe during 2015. The complete list of storms by date and location are as follows: 1. New England Nor’easter – January 26 – New England, USA 2. Snowstorm – February 17 – Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina, USA 3. Tornadic Thunderstorms in Midwest – March 25 – Oklahoma and Arkansas, USA 4. Typhoon Maysak – March 30 – Yap Islands, Southwest Pacific Ocean 5. Rain Accumulation from Cyclone...
TRMM Spacecraft Debris to Re-Enter
June 16, 2015, Update: The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on June 15, 2015, at 11:55 p.m. EDT, over the South Indian Ocean, according to the U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space through the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC). The U.S. Space Surveillance Network, operated by the Defense Department's JSpOC, had been closely monitoring TRMM’s descent since the mission was ended in April. Most of the spacecraft was expected to burn up in the atmosphere during its uncontrolled re-entry. This U.S. Air Force...
NASA's Summer Institute for Science Teachers
Maryland teachers will soon embark on NASA’s mission to enhance science learning in elementary schools across the state. During the month of July, educators will study the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding area alongside scientists and engineers who will provide an insider perspective on scientific study. Teachers participate in a previous Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. Credits: NASA/Goddard/Bill Hrybyk This is just one part of NASA’s Summer Watershed Institute, organized by education specialists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt...
Engaging Citizen Scientists With GPM
Every morning at seven, Andrew Welch wakes up, cooks breakfast and checks the rain gauge sitting on a five-foot post in his backyard. He writes down the measurement, sends his kid off to school and then heads out to his workplace as a structural engineer. Welch is a citizen scientist. Around the world, hundreds of citizen scientists like him are collecting precipitation measurements from the ground that are useful for NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. CoCoRaHS volunteers stand with Dr. Walt Petersen, far left, Dr. Jackson Tan, third from right, and Dr. Tiffany Moisan, far...
The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.
In 1997 when the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, or TRMM, was launched, its mission was scheduled to last just a few years. Now, 17 years later, the TRMM mission has come to an end. NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) stopped TRMM’s science operations and data collection on April 8 after the spacecraft depleted its fuel reserves. TRMM observed rainfall rates over the tropics and subtropics, where two-thirds of the world’s rainfall occurs. TRMM carried the first precipitation radar flown in space, which returned data that were made into 3-D imagery, enabling scientists...
GPM's Worldwide Tour of Global Precipitation
Rain, snow, hail, ice, and every mix in between make up the precipitation that touches everyone on our planet. But precipitation doesn't fall equally in all places around the world, as seen in NASA's new animation that captures every shower, snowstorm and tropical cyclone over a six-day period in August 2014. The time lapse was created from data captured by the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) satellite mission, now just over a year old, which scientists are using to better understand freshwater resources, natural disasters, crop health and more. Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight...
GPM's First Global Rainfall and Snowfall Map
The Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. Like a lead violin tuning an orchestra, the GPM Core Observatory – launched one year ago on Feb. 27, 2014, as a collaboration between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency – acts as the standard to unify precipitation measurements from a network of 12 satellites. The result is NASA's Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for GPM data product, called IMERG, which combines all of these data from 12 satellites into a single, seamless map. The map covers more of the globe than any...
Goodbye to TRMM, First Rain Radar in Space
After 17 years of groundbreaking 3-D images of rain and storms, the joint NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) will come to an end next year. NASA predicts that science operations will cease in or about April 2015, based on the most recent analysis by mission operations at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. Artist concept of TRMM in space over the eye of a tropical cyclone. Image Credit: NASA On July 8, 2014, pressure readings from the fuel tank indicated that TRMM was near the end of its fuel supply. As a result, NASA...
TRMM Out Of Fuel, Continues to Provide Data
Pressure readings from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission's (TRMM) fuel tank on July 8 indicated that the satellite was nearly at the end of its fuel supply. As a result, NASA has ceased maneuvers to keep the satellite at its operating altitude of 402 kilometers (~250 miles). With its speed decreasing, TRMM has begun to drift downward. A small amount of fuel remains to conduct debris avoidance maneuvers to ensure the satellite remains safe. Artist's visualization of the TRMM satellite in space over a tropical cyclone. Image Credit: NASA TRMM's slow descent will continue over the next 2 to...
GPM Satellite Passes Check-out, Starts Mission
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. Image Credit: NASA The new Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory satellite is now in the hands of the engineers who will fly the spacecraft and ensure the steady flow of data on rain and snow for the life of the mission. The official handover to the NASA / Goddard Earth Science Mission Operations team at NASA’s...
First Images from NASA-JAXA GPM Satellite
On March 10, the Core Observatory passed over an extra-tropical cyclone about 1055 miles (1700 kilometers) due east of Japan's Honshu Island. Satellite data shows the full range of precipitation in the storm. Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Download related multimedia in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have released the first images captured by their newest Earth-observing satellite, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, which launched into space Feb. 27. The images...
 NASA & JAXA Launch Satellite to Measure Global Rain and Snow
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...
GPM's H-IIA Rocket Rolls Out to the Launch Pad
The H-IIA rocket with the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory aboard rolled out to Launch Pad 1 at 1:04 p.m. on Feb. 27 (Japan time) at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The rocket is scheduled to lift off during a launch window that opens at 3:37 a.m. (JST) on Feb. 28. (1:37 p.m. Feb. 27 EST). A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory is seen as it rolls out to its launch pad at the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. Image Credit: NASA/BIll Ingalls After an overnight rainstorm, clear skies and a...
GPM's Rehearsal Weekend at Tanegashima
This video introduces Minamitame Town, near the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center, from where the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory is scheduled to launch on the afternoon of Feb. 27, 2014 (EST). Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Michael Starobin Download this video in HD formats from the Scientific Visualization Studio On the first floor of the Spacecraft Test and Assembly building at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, a skeleton crew of blue-shirted NASA engineers for the Global...
GPM Core Observatory Encapsulated into Rocket Fairing
Credit: NASA / JAXA On Feb. 11, the Core Observatory was moved into the spacecraft fairing assembly building and into the Encapsulation Hall. Final inspections and preparations were completed for the installation into the fairing, which began on Feb 13. The fairing is the part of the rocket that will contain the spacecraft at the top of the H-IIA rocket. Credit: NASA / JAXA The encapsulation process for the H-IIA is very different than for most U.S. rockets. For U.S. rockets, the fairing is usually in two pieces that close around the payload like a clamshell. To install the GPM Core...
NASA, JAXA Prepare GPM Satellite for Launch
Watch the GPM L-30 Press Briefing on Youtube: Part 1: GPM Mission Briefing Part 2: GPM Science Briefing The world enters a new era of global weather observing and climate science in February with the launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory, a new international science satellite built by NASA. GPM, a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is scheduled to launch Feb. 27 from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. The observatory will link data from a constellation of current and planned satellites to produce next-generation global...
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, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 (Friday Feb. 28 in 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. . Download in High Resolution from the Scientific Visualization Studio Launch Date: February 27th 2014 Launch Time: 1:37 pm ET Launch Vehicle: HII-A Rocket Launch Site...
New Video Shows GPM's Journey to Japan
Pack it up, put it on a plane and fly it to Japan. It sounds simple enough, but a new video from NASA shows when your package is a satellite, it's anything but. NASA's new video, "GPM's Journey to Japan," highlights the unique shipment of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission's Core Observatory by air, land and sea. Built at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., the GPM spacecraft travelled roughly 7,300 miles (11,750 kilometers) to its launch site at Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island, Japan, where it is scheduled for liftoff on Feb. 27, 2014, at 1:07 p.m...
GPM Completes Spacecraft Alignments
After a holiday break, final tests for the GPM Core Observatory resumed on Dec. 30, 2013, with alignment measurements. The spacecraft's instruments and components, such as star trackers and thrusters, are attached to the main body in specific configurations. Spacecraft alignment measurement is analogous to alignment for the wheels of a car. The Core Observatory measurements ensure that no parts have shifted during its transportation from the United States to Japan, so they will work as expected. The GPM Core Observatory in the clean room at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan Image Credit: NASA /...
NASA Hosts Prelaunch Media Events for GPM
NASA will hold a series of media events Monday, Jan. 27, in advance of the February launch of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory from Japan. The events will be held at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. GPM is an international satellite mission led by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) that will provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide. GPM data also will contribute to climate research and the forecasting of extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes. The GPM Core Observatory is scheduled to lift...
Engineering the GPM Core Observatory
For the past three years, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory has gone from components and assembly drawings to a fully functioning satellite at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The satellite has now arrived in Japan, where it will lift off in early 2014. The journey to the launch pad has been a long and painstaking process. It began with the most basic assembly of the satellite's frame and electrical system, continued through the integration of its two science instruments, and has now culminated in the completion of a dizzying array of environmental...
NASA and JAXA Announce Launch Date for GPM
Environmental research and weather forecasting are about to get a significant technology boost as NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) prepare to launch a new satellite in February. NASA and JAXA selected 1:07 p.m. to 3:07 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 27 (3:07 a.m. to 5:07 a.m. JST Friday, Feb. 28) as the launch date and launch window for a Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite from JAXA's Tanegashima Space Center. GPM is an international satellite mission that will provide advanced observations of rain and snowfall...
GPM: The Road to Launch
The GPM Core Observatory has left NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and embarked upon its long journey to Japan where it will launch in early 2014. Science writer Ellen Gray and producer Michael Starobin are travelling along with the spacecraft and documenting its trip with photos, videos, and blog posts. Keep checking this page to stay updated on GPM's journey to launch. " GPM in Japan, the Road to Launch " Blog Posts GPM Doing Well, Time to Color in the Eyes - March 2nd, 2014 Safe Journey, GPM! - February 27th, 2014 Clear Skies for GPM's Launch - February 26th, 2014 Blessings for a Safe and...
NASA's GPM Satellite Begins Journey
For the past three years, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory has gone from components and assembly drawings to a fully functioning satellite at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The satellite has now arrived in Japan, where it will lift off in early 2014. The journey to the launch pad has been a long and painstaking process. It began with the most basic assembly of the satellite's frame and electrical system, continued through the integration of its two science instruments, and has now culminated in the completion of a dizzying array of environmental...
GPM Delivered to Japan for 2014 Launch
An international satellite that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space has completed a 7,300-mile journey from the United States to Japan, where it now will undergo launch preparations. A U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory landed at Kitakyushu Airport, about 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 23. A U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory landed at Kitakyushu Airport in Japan at...
Daniel Alvarado Is GPM's Traveling Companion to Japan
Photo of Daniel Alvarado Name: Daniel E. Alvarado Varela Title: Mechanical Engineer Formal Job Classification : Aerospace Engineer Organization: Code 543, Mechanical Engineering Branch, Engineering Directorate Mechanical engineer Daniel Alvarado’s newest travel companion will be the 7,000-pound GPM satellite, which he will escort from Maryland to Tanegashima, Japan. What do you do and what is most interesting about your role here at Goddard? How do you help support Goddard’s mission? Although officially I am an aerospace engineer, my education is in mechanical engineering. I work on the Global...
GPM Solar Array Deployment Test
By Kasha Patel, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Feature (published 7/1/13) NASA successfully completed two pre-vibration solar array deployment tests of the Global Precipitation Measurement satellite on June 6 and June 15, 2013. This video montage shows scenes from the test deployments of both GPM Core satellite solar arrays in a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in June 2013. Video Credit: NASA Goddard “Cross your fingers. Cross your toes,” said Art Azarbarzin, GPM project manager, as he watched engineers take their places around the...
GPM Core Observatory in space with constellation satellites in background.
By Ellen Gray, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Feature (published 4/12/13) This video, "Our Wet Wide World", provides an overview of the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission and its goals. Video Credit: Ryan Fitzgibbons As anyone who has ever been caught in a sudden and unexpected downpour knows, gaps still exist in our knowledge about the behavior and movement of precipitation, clouds and storms. An upcoming satellite mission from NASA and the Japanese Space Agency aims to fill in those gaps both in coverage and in scientists' understanding of precipitation. The...
TRMM reign of rain screenshot
By Ellen Gray , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Article (published 11/27/12) When it rains it pours, goes the saying, and for the last 15 years, the data on tropical rainfall have poured in. NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was launched on Nov. 27, 1997, and for the last decade and a half has enabled precipitation science that has had far reaching applications across the globe. TRMM Project Scientist Scott Braun looks back at the legacy of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission and a few of the major scientific milestones the satellite has helped...
Engineers working on the GPM Core Observatory
By Ellen Gray , NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Article (published 10/17/12) NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite went through its first complete comprehensive performance test (CPT), beginning on Oct. 4, 2012 at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The testing ran twenty-four hours, seven days a week and lasted ten days as the entire spacecraft was put through its paces. "This is the first time we've gotten to see the observatory all put together, running the way it's supposed to be running in flight," said CPT Test...
NASA engineer working on GPM
The electrical integration of the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument onto the GPM Core Observatory was successfully completed in April 2012. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. Boulder, Colo. built the GMI, which arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. in early March and after post shipment processing it was handed over to NASA. The GMI is one of the key instruments for the GPM Core Observatory. This instrument is a passive radiometer with 13 channels covering frequencies from 10 to 183 GHz. In May, 2012, the Dual-frequency...
NASA and JAXA officials at the DPR signing event
By Ellen Gray, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Press Release (published 4/3/12) On March 30, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officially handed off a new satellite instrument to NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) was designed and built by JAXA and Japan's National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT). JAXA DPR Project Manager Masahiro Kojima (seated left) formally signed over the DPR to GPM Project Manager Art Azarbarzin (seated right). Behind from left to right: Minoru...
DPR arriving on a truck at NASA Goddard
By Aries Keck, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Press Release (published 3/1/12) The Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR) built by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core Observatory arrived on Friday, March 16 and was unloaded today at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Comprised of two radars, the DPR is one of two instruments that will fly on the Core Observatory scheduled for launch in February 2014. Engineers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA Goddard...
Scientists stand around the GMI which just arrived at NASA Goddard
By Rob Gutro, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Original www.nasa.gov Press Release (published 3/1/12) The Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument has arrived at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. for integration into NASA's upcoming Earth science spacecraft. The instrument was built at the Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. The GPM Microwave Imager instrument being placed in the acoustic chamber at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on March 1, 2012. Credit: NASA / Ball Aerospace Engineers at NASA Goddard will integrate both the...
GPM on the High Capacity Centrifuge
In the clean room at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Md., the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission's Core satellite is steadily taking shape. Set to measure rainfall worldwide after launch in 2014, GPM's two solar panels are the latest components currently undergoing rigorous testing before being integrated with the spacecraft, a process that began seven months ago when the main structural elements went on an unusual ride. GPM moves from the clean room to the test chamber on a dolly without wheels. Compressed air is pumped out under airpads that float the Spacecraft on...

Hide Date