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GPM Rolllout to Launchpad

GPM Rolllout to Launchpad
Image Caption
GPM Rolllout to Launchpad

A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is seen as it rolls out to launch pad 1 of the Tanegashima Space Center, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Tanegashima, Japan. 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 Rolllout to Launchpad

GPM Rollout to Launchpad
Image Caption
GPM Rolllout to Launchpad

A Japanese H-IIA rocket carrying the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory is seen as it rolls out to launch pad 1 of the Tanegashima Space Center, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, Tanegashima, Japan. 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)

H-IIA Guidance and Control System '"Go"

The Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory is continuing to move successfully toward launch. Programs have been run on the guidance and control system on the H-IIA launch vehicle to confirm that all devices for flight attitude control are working as expected. The one-hour launch window for the GPM Core Observatory opens at Feb. 27 at 1:37 p.m. EST (Feb. 28 at 3:37 a.m. JST).

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.
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