Posted: Wed, Jun 9, 2004, 10:16 PM ET (0216 GMT)
NASA plans to end operations of a joint US-Japanese earth sciences mission as soon as the end of this month, Japanese media reported late Wednesday. Officials with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) told Kyodo News that NASA has informed them that the US plans to end operations of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). NASA came to that decision because they felt it was no longer cost-effective to spend the several million dollars a year it costs to operate the spacecraft. TRMM, a joint mission between NASA and JAXA's predecessor, NASDA, was launched on a Japanese H-2 rocket in November 1997. Its mission has been to study precipitation patterns in tropical and subtropical regions.

Related Links:

•  Kyodo News article
•  TRMM information from JAXA