Friday evening, GPM flight controllers at NASA Goddard began using the satellite’s High Gain Antenna system for high-rate data rate transmissions through NASA’s orbiting fleet of Tracking Data Relay Satellites. Having high-rate data flowing through the TDRS system allows the spacecraft recorder to be downloaded more frequently. During science operations, TDRS communication will allow availability of science data within 3 hours of measurement. Just after 11 a.m. EST on Saturday, March 1st, the flight team began the activation of one of the two main science instruments on the GPM observatory –

The GPS system has been switched on. This tells the satellite the time and its location with respect to the Earth's surface. The team is readying the spacecraft to use its High Gain Antenna for high data-rate communication through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.

A tropical depression that developed southeast of Guam was upgraded to a tropical storm called FAXAI early Saturday morning (local time). The TRMM satellite has had several good looks of the tropical storm during it's formation. As it passed over head on February 27, 2014 at 2357 UTC the satellite had an outstanding daytime view of the developing tropical cyclone . Rainfall data collected by TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR) instruments are shown overlaid on enhanced visible and infrared images from TRMM's Visible and InfraRed Scanner (VIRS). TRMM PR data indicated

The GPM Core Observatory continues power positive, stable on the sun line and communicating with the GPM Mission Operations Center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The spacecraft magnetic torquer bar polarity was adjusted to eliminate rotational momentum gain. Star trackers were turned on and the High Gain Antenna was successfully deployed. Within the next day or two, the spacecraft controllers at NASA Goddard will begin to use the antenna to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System for commands from the ground, data and health and safety information

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