JPL, or Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is a federally funded research and development center managed by the California Institute of Technology for NASA. JPL’s primary function is the construction and operation of robotic space probes.
headquartered in Pasadena, California, JPL is home to some of the most advanced technology in the world. From Mars rovers to deep space telescopes, JPL has designed and built some of humanity’s most impressive machines.
JPL was founded in 1936 as part of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech. The laboratory’s first director was Theodore von Kármán, who oversaw both aeronautical and rocketry research at GALCIT. In 1943, Von Kármán was succeeded by Frank Malina, who oversaw the development of several sounding rockets during World War II before turning his attention to peaceful applications of rocketry with Project Orbiter in 1946. orbit around Earth. This work led to the launch of Explorer 1, America’s first satellite, in 1958.
Since then, JPL has continued to be at the forefront of space exploration with such notable achievements as:
* Mariner 2: First successful interplanetary mission (Venus)
* Ranger 7: First American spacecraft to return close-up images of another planet (Moon)
* Viking 1 & 2: First successful landers on Mars (1976)
* Voyager 1 & 2: First spacecraft to visit Jupiter and Saturn (1979-80), now en route out of our solar system
* Galileo: Extended our knowledge about Jupiter greatly (1989-2003)
Today more than 5 thousand people work at JPL on over 250 active spacecraft missions covering every corner of our solar system including several that are probing Interstellar space beyond!