Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

View of a Martian Gullied Crater taken by JPL's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Courtesy of JPL/NASA

In my sci-fi thriller, The Rocket Scientist, my major character, Dr. Julie McCray, runs the Mars Programs for the JPL. So I thought is would be informative to share a few facts about this amazing scientific institution.

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) — Summary and Major Successes

• Overview

  • JPL is a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) located in Pasadena, California.

  • Operated for NASA by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

  • Founded in the 1930s by Caltech scientists experimenting with rocketry; officially became part of NASA in 1958.

  • Focuses on robotic space exploration, Earth science missions, deep-space communication, and advanced research in robotics and engineering.

  • Home to the Deep Space Network (DSN), a global system of large radio antennas supporting interplanetary spacecraft communication.

    
    

Core Responsibilities

• Designs, builds, and manages uncrewed spacecraft for NASA.

• Develops robotic systems for planetary exploration.

• Operates spacecraft long after launch, providing mission control, navigation, and data analysis.

• Conducts research in areas such as autonomous systems, artificial intelligence for space missions, and advanced propulsion.

• Manages missions for planetary science, astrophysics, Earth observation, and heliophysics.

  
  

Major Successes & Historic Achievements

Planetary Exploration

• Voyager 1 & 2 (1977–present)

  • First spacecraft to explore all outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).

  • Voyager 1 is the first human-made object to reach interstellar space.

  • Carry the iconic Golden Record.

• Mars Rovers (Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, Perseverance)

  • Spirit & Opportunity (2004): revolutionized understanding of past water on Mars; Opportunity operated nearly 15 years.

  • Curiosity (landed 2012): discovered complex organic molecules and evidence of an ancient habitable environment.

  • Perseverance (landed 2021): collecting samples for future return, conducting advanced science, and testing new technologies such as MOXIE (oxygen production from Martian atmosphere).

• Ingenuity Mars Helicopter

  • First powered controlled flight on another planet.

  • Completed far more flights than originally planned, becoming a milestone in extraterrestrial aviation.

• Viking Missions (1975)

  • First successful Mars landers to perform experiments directly on Martian soil.

• Cassini–Huygens Mission to Saturn

  • Explored Saturn’s rings, atmosphere, and moons.

  • Discovered liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and geysers on Enceladus.

Comet and Asteroid Missions

• NEOWISE, Dawn, and Deep Impact contributed to groundbreaking understanding of small bodies.

• Dawn was the first spacecraft to orbit two extraterrestrial bodies (Vesta and Ceres).

Earth Science Contributions

• Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, GRACE, SMAP, and other missions measure:

  • Sea-level rise

  • Gravity field changes

  • Soil moisture

  • Climate and atmospheric dynamics

These missions provide critical data for climate science and natural disaster monitoring.

Significance

• JPL is recognized as one of the world’s premier robotics and space engineering institutions.

• Its work has fundamentally expanded humanity’s understanding of the solar system and has pioneered technologies that enable deeper and more ambitious exploration.