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The past couple of months have been a whirlwind of activity for the GPM project. We experienced a changing of the guard at project scientist, we concluded the annual NASA budget process, we held our first meetings with our recently selected GPM Microwave Imager (GMI) vendor (see Spring 2005 Monitor for details), and we conducted a NASA Ground Validation Project Workshop (Click here to view the article on this Workshop). Also, as I write this message, project personnel are working intensively to get the implementation approach to the Core spacecraft development in place. We look forward to announcing the details of this endeavor in our next newsletter. Dr Eric Smith has decided to step down as GPM Project Scientist in order to pursue personal research endeavors at GSFC. We are all thankful for the scientific leadership that he has provided to the GPM project to date, and expect that he will continue to work towards the success of this very important mission. I personally want to thank Eric for his support to me during his tenure as Project Scientist and I look forward to his ongoing support as a key Precipitation Measurement Missions Science Team member. Dr. Arthur Hou has been appointed as the new GPM Project Scientist, effective July 1, 2005. Please join me in welcoming Arthur in his new role (Click here to view a message to the GPM community from Dr. Hou). This year’s budget cycle appears to be a turning point in the GPM development. In past years the GPM mission has sustained budget deferments that resulted in slips to the Core Spacecraft launch date. But this year, from all indications, our budget will remain intact, enabling us to maintain a stable launch schedule. The proof is in the pudding when the President and Congress agree on the budget this fall, but from what I see I think the worst is behind us and we should see significant development progress in the future. Our kickoff meetings with the GMI vendor—Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation—were productive. We see many challenges ahead in this development but are confident in the team in place and look forward to the next four years of instrument development. John Durning GPM Project
Formulation Manager
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