Japan launches hi-tech global rainfall satellite

Agence France-Presse

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The satellite is designed to collect data from several other satellites in orbit and add that to its own measurements to build up a detailed picture of precipitation around the planet

LIFTOFF. A Japanese H-IIA rocket with the NASA-Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Core Observatory onboard, is seen launching from the Tanegashima Space Center in Tanegashima, Japan. Bill Ingalls/NASA

TOKYO, Japan – Japan successfully launched its latest rocket on Friday, February 28, carrying a hi-tech satellite to monitor global rainfall and help meteorologists forecast big storms, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The H-IIA rocket blasted off from a southern Japanese island at 3:37 am on Friday as scheduled, with the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) core observatory aboard, JAXA said.

The satellite, jointly developed by Japan and the United States, is designed to collect data from several other satellites in orbit and add that to its own measurements to build up a detailed picture of precipitation around the planet.

Weather forecasters say that with a more detailed and complete map of rain they will be better able to predict extreme events such as typhoons and floods.

On Thursday, February 27, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, who is now aboard the International Space Station along with NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Russia’s Mikhail Tyurin, told his 74,000 Twitter followers he was hoping for a smooth launch.

“From the ISS, I wish for the success of the launch,” he wrote. – Rappler.com

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