| Nobuyoshi Fugono |
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[Slide 32]
[Slide 33]
[Slide 34]
[Slide 35]
[Slide 36]
[Slide 37]
[Slide 38]
[Slide 39]
[Slide 40]
[Slide 41]
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[Slide 32]
This is about the prehistory of the TRMM, and now I'd like to tell you the history of the TRMM development. The USA and Japan had already been cooperating for a long time on space issues such as satellite communications. In June 1986 the both sides jointly proposed the TRMM project at the Standing Senior Liaison Group meeting (SSLG), a summit conference for Japan-USA collaboration in space-related matters, jointly presided over by the Administrator of NASA and the Minister of the Science and Technology Agency. The proposal was approved.
However, the bureaucracies were slow to act in both countries, so we visited and made a joint appeal with the USA colleagues to the office of the Associate Administrator of NASA. In the scheme of cooperating tasks, the role that Japan was in charge of the launching rocket caused a great problem. At that time, the N-rocket of Japan had been developed using technology of the USA, and was only allowed to launch Japanese satellites. Concerning this H-IIrocket, the USA side was not convinced whether Japan was able to develop the rocket only by Japanese technology. The Office of International Affairs of NASA, a group of bureaucrats, had been very reluctant.
Finally, the Associate Administrator decided to send a letter of intent to a member of the SSLG, Prof. Saito, who was the Japanese side's deputy co-chairperson of SSLG and the acting chair person of Space Activities Commission of Japan. When this letter arrived at the Japan side, it was utter confusion for the Science and Technology Agency and NASDA. With the great support of the Space International Affairs Division, the Science and Technology Agency decided to send a reply to NASA, in which Japan agreed to have the Japan-USA joint feasibility study. After that, we held four meetings within one year in both countries. At the end of the fourth meeting, the international symposium had been planned, but I had no budget. In those days, almost all Japanese national research laboratories were in the similar situation.
Prof. Sakata of Tokai University - absent today - paid the whole bill, about \10 million. Yet, the budget was still tight and we tried everything we could think of. In those days, imported whiskies were very expensive in Japan, so on his suggestion, we asked those attending from overseas to bring three bottles of duty-free liquor, and then they could attend the reception for free. All the 20 to 30 foreign members brought liquor bottles including Dr. Elachi. We got dozens of bottles of whisky, and we enjoyed the liquor every night. In a series of informal meetings, the USA side, who had been suspicious of the Japanese willing, began to believe that Japan would actually be serious about realization of this project. Things weren't actually going that well, but an encouraging mood had emerged.
[Slide 33]
With successful results in feasibility studies, we submitted reports and had them authorized in both the USA and Japan. In Japan Dr. Kawasaki, the Director of the Research and Development Bureau of the Science and Technology, supported us and signed the reports. He is now a member of the committee of the Space Activity Commission. But after that affair, there still were plenty of difficulties.
[Slide 34]
On the NASA side, the projects advanced surely from phase A to B, but on the Japan side, the yellow signal seemed to change into a red signal. Around that time was the most painful period for us. I was encouraging Dr. Okamoto by saying, "It is the time when we give up, is when we lose." Meanwhile, we continued to make a steady progress on the Japan-US joint-experiment.
[Slide 35] [Slide 36]
By using this kind of jet airplane the characteristics of the sea surface scattering of the spaceborne radar were collected. This picture was taken in midair over Darwin.
[Slide 37] [Slide 38] [Slide 39]
Using this big DC-8, we experimented over a typhoon in Okinawa area, along this course. The top view of the typhoon was like this using visible/infrared sensor, and the details observed by radar were like this.
[Slide 40]
This is the eye of typhoon. It shows up very clearly. In the wider region, this is the eye area, and one can see that the heavy rains are falling in each winding arm of typhoon.
[Slide 41]
The airborne radar carried dual-frequency including a millimetric wave, and if we use the millimeter? wave we can get very different rainfall features. The dual-frequency radar was unable to be on the TRMM, but in the next mission it will be installed. I hope that more reliable data may be obtained.
We were very lucky for the fact that at the Paris Summit held in 1990, the environmental issues suddenly received a great deal of public attention, whilst all the time we had been continuing our efforts by telling ourselves that "the time when we give up, is when we lose."(see also: Slide 33) Though this seemed to be just a preparation for the Rio Summit, after the Paris Summit, people who had been against the TRMM project, or standing by observers, began carrying it up on their shoulder. Since then, because the project proceeded very rapidly and left my hands, and went on to the launching in 1997, I have little to say about this period.
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