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Ball Aerospace Ships GMI Earth Observation Instrument to NASA

By Jeffrey Hill | March 5, 2012

      [Satellite TODAY 03-05-12] Ball Aerospace & Technologies has shipped the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Microwave Imager (GMI) it built for NASA to the Goddard Space Flight Center for integration with its launch spacecraft, Ball Aerospace announced March 2.

         Ball said the GMI instrument would play an essential role in the worldwide measurement of precipitation and the Earth’s environmental forecasting when it launches aboard the GPM space-borne Core Observatory in 2014.
         “The outstanding team working on the GPM mission is collaborating successfully to bring this scientifically important project ever closer to launch,” Ball Aerospace Vice President and General Manager for Civil and Operational Space Business Cary Ludtke said in a statement.

         The GPM mission is a joint effort between NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and other international partners. Ball Aerospace’s role in the GPM program included the design, development and fabrication of the GMI. The mission aims to improve climate, weather and hydrological predictions by providing more accurate precipitation measurements from space.