JAXA
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
GPM's Launch Vehicle Arrives at Tanegashima Space Center
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 Japanese H-IIA rocket, No. 23, has two stages that arrived by cargo freighter the previous evening. They were then trucked across the island in the middle of the night when no cars were on the road. Both stages of the Japanese H-IIA rocket arrived at Tanegashima Island, Japan on Jan. 20, 2014. Above, the first stage in its shipping container is lifted off of the cargo freighter. It and the upper
GPM Completes Propulsion System Checks, End-to-End Test, Mission Rehearsal
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