NASA/JAXA GPM: precipitation satellite passes check-out, starts mission

The GPM Core Observatory collects precipitation information that unifies data from an international network of existing and future satellites to map global rainfall and snowfall every three hours. 

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Debbie McCallum

The new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory satellite is now in the hands of the engineers who will fly the spacecraft and ensure the steady flow of data on rain and snow for the life of the mission.

The official handover to the Earth Science Mission Operations team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, on May 29, marked the end of a successful check-out period.

The Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission is a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

Its GPM Core Observatory launched on Feb. 27, 2014, from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan.

The satellite's two science instruments collect observations of rainfall and snowfall worldwide. Since launch, the satellite has gone through a thorough check-out of all its systems and reached its final orbit of 253 miles (407 kilometers) above Earth's surface.

"Commissioning has gone very well," said Mission Systems Engineer David Ward of NASA Goddard at GPM's Post-Launch Acceptance Review on May 15. "The issues that have occurred have been relatively minor. We're in very good shape."

The check-out period is like taking a new car out on a road trip – the engineers in the driver's seat learn how it handles and make adjustments to find the "sweet spots" for smooth flying and data collection.

In the first weeks after launch the Flight Operations Team at Goddard, supported by the engineers who built the spacecraft, turned on spacecraft systems and ran them through normal procedures.

On May 29, GPM Deputy Project Manager Candace Carlisle (left) handed over the 'key' to the GPM Core Observatory to GPM Mission Director James Pawloski (center, blue shirt). 

Also pictured, left to right, Wynn Watson, Art Azarbarzin, Gail Skofronick-Jackson and David Ward. 

Credit: NASA

The team turned on both science instruments a few days after launch: the GPM Microwave Imager on March 1, and the Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar on March 2.

Two weeks after launch, both instruments were collecting data and the team had begun calibration procedures to ensure that the data returned is as accurate as possible.

"We're doing really well," said Erich Stocker, GPM deputy project scientist and project manager for the Precipitation Processing System at Goddard, which handles data for GPM and its predecessor satellite, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM).

"GMI is the best calibrated radiometer out of the box that we've ever had. And DPR is well-calibrated for this stage," he said, noting that the instrument can pick up weather elements, like classic thunderstorm anvil-shaped clouds, which TRMM could not.

A series of propulsion burns in March and early April took the Core Observatory into its final orbit at 253 miles.

At that altitude, however, drag is still a problem – a very thin layer of atmosphere still exists, which can slow down a quickly moving satellite with two extended solar arrays.

In low Earth orbit, slowing down means losing altitude. To counteract the drag, the thrusters had a planned burn every week to maintain speed and altitude.

After evaluating how well the solar arrays were collecting power – very well – the flight team made minute adjustments to the angle of the arrays to reduce drag, reducing the need for altitude maintenance burns to every other week.

Boeing X-37B: Secretive mission passes 500 days in space

An artists’ conception of the X-37B in Earth orbit. 

Credit: U.S. Air Force.

A secretive mission will pass a quiet milestone at the end of this month when the U.S. Air Force's unmanned spaceplane the X-37B surpasses 500 days in space.

Launched atop an Atlas V rocket flying in a 401 configuration from Cape Canaveral Florida after several delays on December 11th, 2012 on OTV-3, the X-37B has already surpassed its own record of 469 days in space set on OTV-2.

Said milestone was crossed last month. If the current mission stays in space until April 25th of this year, it will have surpassed 500 days in space.

Two X-37Bs were built for the USAF, and the first test mission flew in 2010. NASA performed drop glide tests with an early variant of the X-37A in 2005 and 2006, and DARPA is thought to be a primary customer for the program as well.

Measuring just 8.8 metres in length, the X-37B is tiny compared to its more famous spaceplane cousin the U.S. Space Shuttle.

The X-37B has a maximum weight at liftoff of 4,990 kilograms and features a payload bay 2.1 by 1.2 metres in size.

The spacecraft itself is solar powered, as it unfurls a panel—as depicted in many artists' conceptions—once it's in orbit.

Of course, its mission profile is classified, and the X-37B could land unannounced at any time. The previous landings occurred at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and were only announced shortly thereafter.


Not only is this the longest continuous mission for any spaceplane, but the ATV-3 is also the smallest, lightest and only the second spaceplane to land autonomously, the first being the Russian space shuttle Buran that flew one mission and landed after one orbit at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on November 15th, 1988.

The idea of a reusable spaceplane has been around since the dawn of the Space Age. The U.S. Space Shuttle program was the most high profile of these, having flown 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

The X-37B awaiting encapsulation for launch. 

Credit: U.S. Air Force.

But even the space shuttle launch system wasn't fully reusable, expending its large orange external fuel tank after every mission and requiring extensive refurbishment for the solid rocket motors and orbiter after each and every flight.

The Soviets abandoned Buran in 1988, and other examples of spaceplanes such as North American's X-15 surpassed the 100 kilometre in altitude Kármán line marking the boundary to space, but were suborbital only.

And this year, customers may get a chance to make similar suborbital hops into space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spaceplane at $250,000 dollars a ticket.

But the most ambitious design for a true spaceplane was conceived in the 1960's: Boeing's X-20 Dyna-Soar, which was never built.

Robbie the robot passes UN inspection - Video

Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meets "Robbie the Robot" developed for Cork teenager Joanne O'Riordan, who was born without limbs.

Robbie the Robot, a prototype robot built by researchers and engineering students in Trinity College Dublin for Cork teenager Joanne O'Riordan, who was born with a rare condition known as Total Amelia, was officially unveiled today.

In April 2012 Joanne O'Riordan addressed an audience of international delegates at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 'Girls in ICT Day' celebrations in New York and put forward a challenge for someone to build her a robot.

Assistant Professor Kevin Kelly in the School of Engineering, Trinity, and a team of young engineers took up this challenge.

Thanks to a generous donation of €50,000 from the ITU, the team built a prototype humanoid robot, with a head, arms, torso and a single 'leg' which uses two wheels to move around.

Speaking about the motivation behind the project, Assistant Professor Kelly said: "Anyone who saw Joanne's appearance on the Late Late Show in 2011 couldn't fail to be both impressed and inspired by her, and I was no different."

"However, it was her appearance at the UN conference that really compelled me to get involved."

"Firstly, by her presence alone she was inspiring young girls to consider technology or engineering as possible careers – something very dear to my heart, and that I've worked to encourage for many years now."

"And secondly, the research in autonomous robots and gripping technology that we were engaged in at Trinity seemed an ideal match for what Joanne was asking for."

"I got in touch with Joanne and her family and we began discussing how we could help."

ITU Secretary General, Dr Touré, who was behind the funding for this project said: "Joanne's courage and energy are formidable – and her enthusiasm for the power of information and communication technologies to help her overcome her challenges and engage with the world around her is truly inspiring.

ITU undertakes a lot of work in the areas of empowering young girls and promoting ICTs for accessiblity – but it took Joanne to show us all the vital importance of these efforts.

ITU is very proud indeed to have been a part of this pioneering project."

NASA's Kennedy Space Center: Crawler-Transporter CT-2 Passes Milestone Test

The crawler-transporter that will carry NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft to Launch Pad 39B for launch on Exploration Mission-1 in 2017 recently passed the first phase of an important milestone test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program completed testing of new traction roller bearings on crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), on two of the massive vehicle’s truck sections, A and C, in late January.

The new roller bearing assemblies that were installed on one side of the crawler are visible in this Jan. 31, 2014 image. 


CT-2 returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center, where work continues to install new roller bearing assemblies on the B and D truck sections.

For more than 45 years the crawler-transporters were used to transport the mobile launcher platform and the Apollo-Saturn V rockets and, later, space shuttles to Launch Pads 39A and B.

Upgrades to CT-2 are necessary to increase the lifted-load capacity from 12 million to 18 million pounds to support the weight of the mobile launcher and future launch vehicles, including the SLS and Orion.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

James Webb Space telescope passes a Critical Design Review milestone

Artist's impression of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has passed its first significant mission milestone for 2014, a Spacecraft Critical Design Review (SCDR) that examined the telescope's power, communications and pointing control systems.

"This is the last major element-level critical design review of the program," said Richard Lynch, NASA Spacecraft Bus Manager for the James Webb Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Richard Lynch

"What that means is all of the designs are complete for the Webb and there are no major designs left to do."

During the SCDR, the details, designs, construction and testing plans, and the spacecraft's operating procedures were subjected to rigorous review by an independent panel of experts.

The week-long review involved extensive discussions on all aspects of the spacecraft to ensure the plans to finish construction would result in a vehicle that enables the powerful telescope and science instruments to deliver their unique and invaluable views of the universe.

Eric Smith

"While the spacecraft that carries the science payload for Webb may not be as glamorous as the telescope, it's the heart that enables the whole mission," said Eric Smith, acting program director and program scientist for the Webb Telescope at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

"By providing many services including telescope pointing and communication with Earth, the spacecraft is our high tech infrastructure empowering scientific discovery."

Goddard Space Flight Center manages the mission. Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, Calif., leads the design and development effort.

Scott Willoughby

"Our Northrop Grumman team has worked exceptionally hard to meet this critical milestone on an accelerated schedule, following the replan," said Scott Willoughby, Northrop Grumman vice president and James Webb Space Telescope program manager in Redondo Beach, Calif.

"This is a huge step forward in our progress toward completion of the Webb Telescope."

The James Webb Space Telescope, successor to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, will be the most powerful space telescope ever built.

It will observe the most distant objects in the universe, provide images of the first galaxies formed and see unexplored planets around distant stars.

The Webb telescope is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

New 311mph Maglev train in Japan passes initial tests

Engineers with Central Japan Railway Co. have put their newest Maglev L0 train through initial testing and report the new high-speed train is on course for commercial deployment by 2027.

The train will eventually carry up to 1000 passengers at a time in 16 carriages (traveling at speeds up to 311mph / 500kmph) between Tokyo and Nagoya, cutting current travel time from 90 to 40 minutes.

The initial test of the train was a simple trial to ensure soundness—the lead car and four other carriages were pulled along a track using a maintenance vehicle.

An official test of the train is expected to be carried out in September. The maglev train, like others of its kind, is held in the air by magnets as it's traveling cutting down on friction between wheels and rails.

Japan was the first country to introduce maglev trains. They built and used one to transport spectators at speeds up to 130mph to and from venues at the 1964 Olympics held in that country.

Since that time, virtually all other technically advanced countries have built so-called bullet trains and have put them into service.

The title of worlds fastest is currently held by China's Shanghai maglev train—it's capable of running at speeds of up to 268mph, though it generally operates at closer to 150mph due to track length restrictions.

A train running at 311mph would set a new bar, likely prompting others to see if that speed can be topped.

Japan has set itself apart in high speed rail—its current network of trains run at speeds averaging a world-best 199mph over 1,400 miles of track.

Nagoya, Japan's third largest city is approximately 218 miles west of Tokyo—the the span between them is currently serviced by the Tokaido Shinkansen Line.

Plans call for the rail line to be extended all the way to Osaka by 2045. Government officials have indicated that the overall plan is to add high-speed service between all of the major cities on Honshu, the country's main island.


When complete, each of the new trains will feature 16 carriages—plus the streamlined nose car positioned at the front. Each passenger car will be 24.3 meters in length, giving riders more room than conventional railcars, though there will be one extra seat per row.

Black hole bonanza possible as immense gas cloud passes

The cloud will approach Sagittarius A* on an elliptical orbit, passing close but not getting entirely sucked in by it.

A vast and hidden field of small black holes predicted to be near the centre of our galaxy could be revealed as a giant gas cloud passes by.

The G2 cloud is as large as our Solar System, and bound for a "supermassive" black hole at the Milky Way's core.

On the way, it should encounter many black holes just tens of km across.

A report in Physical Review Letters suggests they will spin and heat the gas, which will emit a spray of X-ray light that telescopes could see.

The cloud of gas - three times larger than Pluto's orbit but with a total mass just three times that of the Earth - was first spotted on its course toward the galaxy's centre in 2011.

Researchers have been gearing up for the cloud's approach to the galaxy's enormous central black hole, with its closest approach in September.

'Special opportunity'

Imre Bartos

But Imre Bartos of Columbia University in New York, US, and colleagues hit on the idea of using the cloud's passage for another purpose.

"We know that there is a very massive black hole in the centre of the galaxy, many millions of times heavier than our Sun, and we also suspect that there are thousands and thousands much smaller - a few times the mass of the Sun," explained Dr Bartos.

"When I first saw this G2 cloud going toward the centre, we thought that this may be the first opportunity to hopefully say something directly, to see these black holes near the centre," he reported.

The idea is that as the cloud speeds past these small black holes - some slightly more massive than our Sun but just a few tens of km across - gas will spiral around them faster and faster, heating up to millions of degrees and emitting X-ray light.

It is a bit like allowing a giant sink to empty through thousands of tiny drains and looking for any evidence of swirling water.

The team estimates - based on guesses about just how much gas is in the cloud - that as G2 makes its pass around the central black hole, X-ray space telescopes such as Chandra or NuStar should be able to glimpse about 16 interactions with its smaller cousins.

Keeping an eye out for these X-rays may also confirm the existence of what are called "intermediate mass" black holes - a few thousand times the mass of our Sun.

Here again, theory predicts their existence - particularly near the centres of galaxies - but none has ever been definitively confirmed.

Stefan Gillessen

"I think it's a good idea," said Stefan Gillessen of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, co-author of the 2012 paper in Nature on the G2 cloud's discovery.

"We didn't think of that when we did the original paper - I think it's something worth following up," he reported.

"But the big uncertainty, as always in this game, is what is the density of the gas which comes in."

The less dense the gas is, the less likely that enough light will be produced that our telescopes can see it but as Dr Bartos points out, it is the first real chance to get a look at what may be thousands of smaller black holes hidden between us and the galactic core.

"It's a very special opportunity, and it's also lucky that we've now got the capacity to observe these things with X-ray telescopes on satellites," he said.

A beautiful Storm passes by