14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the American space agency (NASA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced in a joint statement that their latest joint project, the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite, will launch into orbit on February 27, 2014.
The spacecraft is designed specifically to conduct advanced environmental research and weather forecasting, and will contribute significantly to increase meteorologists' ability to predict the weather, at least over some areas. The entire international scientific community will stand to gain from GPM.
The satellite will be launched into space from the JAXA Tanegashima Space Center, aboard a Japanese-built H-IIA delivery system. The launch window will remain open between 1:07 and 3:07 pm EST (3:07 to 5:07 am JST, February 28). Once in orbit, GPM will join a large international fleet of satellites used for weather prediction.
GPM's main focus will be to conduct advanced global observations of rain and snowfall patterns, and then use these data to calibrate and improve measurements taken by other Earth-observing satellites. Scientists hope that this mission will provide them with a deeper understanding of our planet's water and energy cycles.