The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint space mission between the NASA and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), was launched in 1997 to measure rainfall in the tropics.

Fuel has finished in the satellite and it has started to fall. NASA shared that pressure readings from the satellite's fuel tank taken on July 8 indicated that the satellite's fuel was about to finish. Therefore, the space agency has stopped all manoeuvres to ensure that the satellite remains at its operating altitude of 402 kilometers.

Little fuel is left, which will be utilized to carry out debris avoidance manoeuvres. This step will help keeping the satellite safe. As per experts, the satellite's descent will continue for the next two to three years. During that time, the satellite will continue working and will keep on gathering data as its orbits descend to around 350 km.

Once, the satellite reaches at an altitude of 150 to 120 kilometres, it will make a comeback into the atmosphere. "TRMM has met and exceeded its original goal of advancing our understanding of the distribution of tropical rainfall and its relation to the global water and energy cycles", stated Scott Braun, the mission's project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt.

Initially, the mission was planned for three year, but it has already been working for 17 years. During this time period, researchers have been able to get valuable data. Scientists said that TRMM has provided the measurements one of a kind over the tropical ocean.

Researchers have used the TRMM data to provide high quality climatology of rainfall including day and night, monthly, seasonal and yearly time scales. TRMM data was also used to assess severe convection and precipitation events like tropical cyclones, floods, landslides and drought. Some more observations will be received as TRMM descends to 335 kilometres.