H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.23, First stage VOS
Image Caption
GPM's launch vehicle, the H-IIA No.23, first stage VOS (Vehicle On Stand).
Lecture: Finding Hot Towers in Hurricanes
Owen Kelley, research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, discusses the science, the technology and the researcher who coined the term "hot tower" 50 years ago. During the past decade, NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite has been able to collect definitive statistics on the association of hot towers (towering thunderclouds) and hurricane intensification.
GPM Completes Final Checks, Prepares for Fueling
The GPM Core Observatory completed final checks and the team is preparing to install it in the transportation canister that will move it to the spacecraft and fairing assembly building at JAXA’s Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. There, the spacecraft will be fueled next week, followed by installation into the fairing that will contain the spacecraft on the top of the H-IIA rocket. Last week, GPM passed its Operational Readiness Reviewat NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. A NASA panel reviewed all systems and procedures in place for GPM's ground, operation and control systems