Earth  ID: 11427

GPM: Journey to Launch

Released on November 26, 2013
An international satellite that will set a new standard for global precipitation measurements from space has completed a 7,300-mile journey from the United States to Japan, where it now will undergo launch preparations.

A U.S. Air Force C-5 transport aircraft carrying the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory landed at Kitakyushu Airport, about 600 miles southwest of Tokyo, at approximately 10:30 p.m. EST Saturday, Nov. 23.

The spacecraft, the size of a small private jet, is the largest satellite ever built at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. It left Goddard inside a large shipping container Nov. 19 and began its journey across the Pacific Ocean Nov. 21 from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, with a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska.

From Kitakyushu Airport, the spacecraft was loaded onto a barge heading to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in southern Japan, where it will be prepared for launch in early 2014 on an H-IIA rocket.

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Short video montage of the GPM shipping container leaving Goddard Space Flight Center for Joint Base Andrews, Md. for take off to Kitakyushu Airport in Japan.
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Short video montage of the unloading of the GPM container after arriving safely in Kitakyushu, Japan.
 

Related

GPM Ships Out to Japan for Launch
GPM Video File

Credits

Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Video Editor
Michael Starobin (HTSI): Video Editor
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Producer
Michael Starobin (HTSI): Producer
Ardeshir A Azarbarzin (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Candace C Carlisle (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Warren F. Shultzaberger (ASRC Research and Technology Solutions): Project Support
Ryan Fitzgibbons (USRA): Videographer
Michael Starobin (HTSI): Videographer
Ellen T. Gray (ADNET Systems, Inc.): Writer
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11427

Mission:
Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM)

Keywords:
SVS >> GPM
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Precipitation
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Precipitation >> Rain
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Precipitation >> Snow
GCMD >> Location >> Japan
NASA Science >> Earth
SVS >> JAXA
SVS >> GMI
SVS >> DPR
SVS >> Tanegashima

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0