launch

GPM Arrives at Tanegashima Space Center

Following arrival at Japan’s Kitakyushu Airport at 10:30 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 23, the GPM Core Observatory spacecraft in its shipping container was off-loaded from the C-5 aircraft and moved to a barge to be transported to Tanegashima Island. GPM's shipping container is unloaded from the U.S. Air Force C-5 cargo plane that carried it to Japan. Image Credit: NASA The barge departed Kitakyushu around 6:30 a.m. EST Sunday, Nov. 24, but a third of the way to the island, an unplanned stop had to be made at a port called Saiki to protect the ship from weather and rough seas. The barge arrived at