jet propulsion laboratory jpl redirects here for other uses see jpl disambiguation jet propulsion laboratory aerial view of jpl agency overview formed october 31 1936 82 years ago jurisdiction federal government of the united states headquarters 4800 oak grove drive pasadena california employees 6000 agency executive michael m watkins director parent agency managed for nasa by caltech child agency jpl science division website jpl home page the jet propulsion laboratory jpl is a federally funded research and development center and nasa field center in la caada flintridge california united states though is often referred to residing in pasadena california given its pasadena zip code founded in the 1930s the jpl is currently owned by nasa and managed by the nearby california institute of technology caltech for nasa the laboratorys primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft though it also conducts earthorbit and astronomy missions it is also responsible for operating nasas deep space network among the laboratorys major active projects are the mars science laboratory mission which includes the curiosity rover the mars exploration rover opportunity the mars reconnaissance orbiter the dawn mission to the dwarf planet ceres and asteroid vesta the juno spacecraft orbiting jupiter the nustar xray telescope smap satellite for earth surface soil moisture and the spitzer space telescope it is also responsible for managing the jpl smallbody database and provides physical data and lists of publications for all known small solar system bodies the jpls space flight operations facility and twentyfivefoot space simulator are designated national historic landmarks history the control room at jpl jpl traces its beginnings to 1936 in the guggenheim aeronautical laboratory at the california institute of technology galcit when the first set of rocket experiments were carried out in the arroyo seco caltech graduate students frank malina qian xuesen weld arnold and apollo m o smith along with jack parsons and edward s forman tested a small alcoholfueled motor to gather data for malinas graduate thesis during jpls army years the laboratory developed two deployed weapon systems the mgm5 corporal and mgm29 sergeant intermediate range ballistic missiles these missiles were the first us ballistic missiles developed at jpl in 1954 jpl teamed up with wernher von brauns engineers at the army ballistic missile agencys redstone arsenal in huntsville alabama to propose orbiting a satellite during the international geophysical year the team lost that proposal to project vanguard and instead embarked on a classified project to demonstrate ablative reentry technology using a jupiterc rocket they carried out three successful suborbital flights in 1956 and 1957 using a spare juno i a modified jupiterc with a fourth stage the two organizations then launched the united states first satellite explorer 1 on january 31 1958 msl mockup compared with the mars exploration rover and sojourner rover by the jet propulsion laboratory on may 12 2008 jpl was transferred to nasa in december 1958 jpl was early to employ female mathematicians in the 1940s and 1950s using mechanical calculators women in an allfemale computations group performed trajectory calculations jpl has been recognized four times by the space foundation with the douglas s morrow public outreach award which is given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs in 1998 and with the john l jack swigert jr award for space exploration on three occasions in 2009 as part of nasas phoenix mars lander team 2006 and 2005 location research rockets on display at jpl when it was founded jpls site was immediately west of a rocky floodplain the arroyo seco riverbed above the devils gate dam in the northwestern panhandle of the city of pasadena while the first few buildings were constructed in land bought from the city of pasadena employees a 1960s advert it readswhen you were a kid science fiction gave you a sense of wonder now you feel the same just by going to work there are approximately 6000 fulltime caltech employees and typically a few thousand additional contractors working on any given day nasa also has a resident office at the facility staffed by federal managers who oversee jpls activities and work for nasa there are also some caltech graduate students college student interns and coop students education the jpl education office serves educators and students by providing them with activities resources materials and opportunities tied to nasa missions and science the mission of its programs is to introduce and further students interest in pursuing stem science technology engineering and mathematics careers internships and fellowships jpl offers research internship and fellowship opportunities in the summer and throughout the year to high school through postdoctoral and faculty students in most cases students must be us citizens or legal permanent residents to apply although foreign nationals studying at us universities are eligible for limited programs interns are sponsored through nasa programs university partnerships and jpl mentors for research opportunities at the laboratory in areas including technology robotics planetary science aerospace engineering and astrophysics in august 2013 jpl was named one of the 10 most awesome college labs of 2013 by popular science which noted that about 100 students who intern at the laboratory are considered for permanent jobs at jpl after they graduate the jpl education office also hosts the planetary science summer school psss an annual weeklong workshop for graduate and postdoctoral students the program involves a oneweek team design exercise developing an early mission concept study working with jpls advanced projects design team team x and other concurrent engineering teams museum alliance jpl created the nasa museum alliance in 2003 out of a desire to provide museums planetariums visitor centers and other kinds of informal educators with exhibit materials professional development and information related to the upcoming landing of the mars rovers spirit and opportunity the museum alliance is a subset of the jpl education offices informal education group which also serves afterschool and summer programs parents and other kinds of informal educators educator resource center the nasajpl educator resource center which is moving from its location at the indian hill mall in pomona calif at the end of 2013 offers resources materials and free workshops for formal and informal educators covering science technology engineering and science topics related to nasa missions and science open house a display at the open house on may 19 2007 the lab had an open house once a year on a saturday and sunday in may or june when the public is invited to tour the facilities and see live demonstrations of jpl science and technology more limited private tours are also available throughout the year if scheduled well in advance thousands of schoolchildren from southern california and elsewhere visit the lab every year other works in addition to its government work jpl has also assisted the nearby motion picture and television industries by advising them about scientific accuracy in their productions science fiction shows advised by jpl include babylon 5 and its sequel series crusade jpl also works with the department of homeland security science and technology directorate dhsstd jpl and dhsstd developed a search and rescue tool for first responders called finder first responders can use finder to locate people still alive who are buried in rubble after a disaster or terrorist attack finder uses microwave radar to detect breathing and pulses funding jpl is a federally funded research and development center ffrdc managed and operated by caltech under a contract from nasa in fiscal year 2012 the laboratorys budget was slightly under 15 billion with the largest share going to earth science and technology development peanuts tradition there is a tradition at jpl to eat good luck peanuts before critical mission events such as orbital insertions or landings as the story goes after the ranger program had experienced failure after failure during the 1960s the first successful ranger mission to impact the moon occurred after a jpl staff member had decided to pass out peanuts to relieve tension the staff jokingly decided that the peanuts must have been a good luck charm and the tradition persisted missions these are some of the missions partially sponsored by jpl cassinihuygens cloudsat deep space 1 2 explorer program galileo probe gravity recovery and climate experiment grace magellan probe mariner program mars climate orbiter mars exploration rover mission mars global surveyor mars odyssey mars pathfinder mars reconnaissance orbiter mars science laboratory ocean surface topography mission ostmjason2 orbiting carbon observatory phoenix spacecraft pioneer 3 4 ranger program shuttle radar topography mission spitzer space telescope stardust surveyor program viking program voyager program wide field and planetary camera 2 widefield infrared survey explorer list of directors theodore von krmn 1938 1944 frank malina 1944 1946 louis dunn 1946 october 1 1954 william hayward pickering october 1 1954 march 31 1976 bruce c murray april 1 1976 june 30 1982 lew allen jr july 22 1982 december 31 1990 edward c stone january 1 1991 april 30 2001 charles elachi may 1 2001 june 30 2016 michael m watkins july 1 2016 present team x the jpl advanced projects design team also known as team x is an interdisciplinary team of engineers that utilizes concurrent engineering methodologies to complete rapid design analysis and evaluation of mission concept designs controversies employee background check lawsuit nasa v nelson on february 25 2005 homeland security presidential directive 12 was approved by the secretary of commerce this was followed by federal information processing standards 201 fips 201 which specified how the federal government should implement personal identity verification these specifications led to a need for rebadging to meet the updated requirements on august 30 2007 a group of jpl employees filed suit in federal court against nasa caltech and the department of commerce claiming their constitutional rights were being violated by the new overly invasive background investigations 97 of jpl employees were classified at the lowrisk level and would be subjected to the same clearance procedures as those obtaining moderatehigh risk clearance under hspd 12 and fips 201 investigators have the right to obtain any information on employees which includes questioning acquaintances on the status of the employees mental emotional and financial stability additionally if employees depart jpl before the end of the twoyear validity of the background check no investigation ability is terminated former employees can still be legally monitored employees were told that if they did not sign an unlimited waiver of privacy coppedge v jet propulsion laboratory on march 12 2012 the los angeles superior court took opening statements on the case in which former jpl employee david coppedge brought suit against the lab due to workplace discrimination and wrongful termination in the suit coppedge alleges that he first lost his team lead status on jpls cassinihuygens mission in 2009 and then was fired in 2011 because of his evangelical christian beliefs and specifically his belief in intelligent design conversely jpl through the caltech lawyers representing the laboratory allege that coppedges termination was simply due to budget cuts and his demotion from team lead was because of harassment complaints and from ongoing conflicts with his coworkers jet propulsion laboratory portal jet propulsion laboratory science division mars rovers conway erik m exploration and engineering the jet propulsion laboratory and the quest for mars johns hopkins university press 2016 405 pp wikimedia commons has media related to jet propulsion laboratory official website vtejet propulsion laboratorycurrent missions acrimsat airs aster gracefo insight mars cube one juno w m keck observatory 2001 mars odyssey lbt mer misr mls mro msl spitzer space telescope tes voyager voyager 1 voyager 2 past missions cassinihuygens dawn deep impact deep space 1 deep space 2 explorers galex galileo genesis grace herschel iras jason1 kepler magellan mariner mars climate orbiter mars observer mars pathfinder mars polar lander mars global surveyor nscat phoenix pioneer quikscat ranger rosetta seasat sir sme stardust srtm surveyor svlbi topexposeidon ulysses viking wfpc wire cancelled missions afl related organizations nasa caltech nasa deep space network goldstone complex table mountain observatory solar system ambassadors jet propulsion laboratory science division 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