The launch vehicle for the Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission's Core Observatory arrived at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan, in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday, Jan. 21, local time.
The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory had a busy week at Tanegashima Space Center, Japan. The GPM propulsion team did a thorough check of the propulsion system to prepare for fueling the spacecraft later this month. In addition, the GPM completed a full End-to-End test. End-to-End testing simulates mission conditions with the ground systems and communication systems between the spacecraft, data return functions, the Mission Operations Center and Precipitation Processing System at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and the Japan Aerospace Exploration
People in the southern Philippines are used to heavy rainfall this time of the year but rainfall totals have recently been exceptionally high. A tropical low northeast of Mindanao has been an almost permanent feature on weather maps for the past week. It has caused nearly continuous rain in the area of northeastern Mindanao triggering floods and landslides that have caused the reported deaths of 34 people. The TRMM Multi-Satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA), produced at Goddard Space Flight Center, combines the rainfall estimates generated by TRMM and other satellites (3B42). The analysis
GPM on its last truck during shipment to the launch site.
On the back of the shipping container sits the Environmental Control Unit (left), as well as its generator (green on the right). The ECU has heaters and air conditioners to regulate temperature and humidity as well as filters on the air vents to keep out any contaminants.
Tropical cyclone IAN meandered in an area of the Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Tonga as it intensified from tropical storm intensity with winds of 35kts (~41 mph) on January 5, 2014 to a deadly tropical cyclone with winds of 125kts (~144 mph) on January 11, 2014. Tropical cyclone IAN caused extensive damage and an unknown number of deaths when it passed through Tonga at the peak of it's intensity. The TRMM satellite provided excellent coverage of IAN with multiple passes directly above the tropical cyclone. Rainfall data collected by TRMM's Microwave Imager (TMI) and Precipitation Radar (PR)
