Watch NASA and Japan Aerospace Agency Launch Satellite Global Precipitation Measurement

NASA has teamed up with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the two space programs will launch the Global Precipitation Measurement mission today at 1:37 p.m. EST.

The Global Precipitation Measurement is an international satellite mission that aims to provide next generation observations of rain and snow across the world every three hours. NASA's GPM mission overview states that the data the satellite plans to provide "will advance our understanding of the water and energy cycles and extend the use of precipitation data to directly benefit society."

The satellite will be launched from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center, which is located on a 35-mile-long island off the coast of the island of Kyushu. The time of the launch in Japan will be 3:37 a.m. Tanegashima was created in 1969 and has been a site for various satellite launches and rocket tests. The full details of the mission can be found on this NASA webpage.

There will be two instruments aboard the GPM satellite that will be used to measure the rain and snowfall worldwide. The first is JAXA's Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar (DPR), which measures ice and light rain particles. It will create 3-D precipitation models so scientists can look inside a storm and record specific precipitation measurements and details. The second is NASA's GPM Microwave Imager (GMI), which is designed to look through clouds in order to measure tiny particles of precipitation.

The mission is set to launch as scheduled, as the liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks have been fully loaded on time. At 11:00 a.m. EST the GPM radio frequency system was tested with the ground stations and checked out properly. You can watch the GPM Launch Coverage as well as the actual launch through a live streaming of NASA TV provided by USTREAM.

The satellite is scheduled to travel 253 miles above the Earth's surface. You can witness history by viewing the launch, as the mission is one of the largest Earth science projects conducted by NASA.