The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) was a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration (JAXA) Agency to study rainfall for weather and climate research. The TRMM satellite ended collecting data on April 15, 2015. Launched in late November 1997, with a design lifetime of 3 years, the TRMM satellite produced over 17 years of valuable scientific data. TRMM carried 5 instruments: a 3-sensor rainfall suite (PR, TMI, VIRS) and 2 related instruments (LIS and CERES). TRMM delivered a unique 17-year dataset of global tropical rainfall and lightning. The TRMM dataset became the space standard for measuring precipitation, and led to research that improved our understanding of tropical cyclone structure and evolution, convective system properties, lightning-storm relationships, climate and weather modeling, and human impacts on rainfall. The data also supported operational applications such as flood and drought monitoring and weather forecasting.