It doesn't seem to have attracted much attention, but TRMM has run out of fuel for station keeping and is beginning a long, slow spiral downwards towards an eventual re-entry burn, most likely sometime in 2016.

TRMM has been in orbit since 1999, and is still delivering data. Its successor, Global Precipitation Measurement was launched earlier this year.

15 years is a pretty good run, especially for a satellite in LEO.


Doug M.