NASA's JPL Marks 90 Years, Looking Ahead to Its Next Era of Exploration

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The Jet Propulsion Laboratory traces its origins to rocket-propulsion experiments that Caltech graduate students and enthusiasts began in Pasadena's Arroyo Seco on October 31, 1936. Nine decades later, the lab, which Caltech manages on behalf of NASA, is focused on far more ambitious goals. Its planned work spans interstellar probes, lunar drones, and helicopters operating on Mars. The article frames these projects as a continuation of the innovation that began with those early pioneers. The lab's direction for the coming decades is presented as an extension of its long record of exploration.

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