Intro music.
With a reputation for ingenious creativity and clever innovation, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California
is a center known for its daring robotic missions to Mars and beyond.
JPL's prosperous history dates back to the 1930s.
The foundation for the laboratory was laid in the city of Pasadena by the California Institute of Technology.
A curious group of university researchers was interested in experimenting with rocket engines.
The risk of explosions caused campus leaders to send the group a few miles away, to the Arroyo Seco wash at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains.
After developing rocket engines for military aircraft, the Caltech team was asked to analyze the German military's infamous V2 rocket.
Its study of the V2 led to the group's proposal to engineer a missile system for the United States military.
In their proposal, the team referred to themselves for the very first time as "the Jet Propulsion Laboratory."
In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik - the first human-made satellite to be placed in space.
With the start of the space race now officially underway,
the United States Army responded by directing JPL to quickly construct a satellite of our own.
Launched only four months later, the Lab's answer was Explorer 1- a satellite designed to study cosmic rays
and meet the challenge issued by the Soviet Union.
In late 1958, JPL was transferred from Army control to the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration
in order to continue developing spacecraft.
Today, NASA and Caltech work in partnership in creating robotic missions to investigate our Solar System and deep space.
As a planetary exploration center, JPL routinely sets new records and breaks through barriers in space flight.
While on its way to Mercury, Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to use the gravity of another planet, Venus, to boost its speed.
The Voyager spacecraft have also left marks in the record books.
After visiting Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have encountered four different planets.
Voyager 1 continues this legacy of intrepid exploration as it traverses interstellar space and stands as our most distantly traveled spacecraft.
As JPL missions triumphantly ventured farther into space, scientists began to eye our nearest planetary neighbor: Mars.
Since 1975, JPL has launched a flurry of robotic craft to the red planet.
When the Viking lander touched down in 1976, the Lab's Viking orbiter relayed communications between Earth and Mars.
After almost 30 years, the missions to Mars continue.
Building on the success of the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, the continued exploration of Mars is as enticing as ever and remains a major goal of NASA's.
In addition to our nearest planetary neighbor, JPL continues to mount ambitious missions to other regions of our Solar System.
The Cassini spacecraft bound for Saturn plans to spend four years investigating the ringed planet and its many surrounding moons.
Cassini also delivered the Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon - Titan.
A murky and obscure moon, scientists suspect Titan's atmosphere is similar to that of our Earth shortly before life formed.
At home on Earth, JPL scientists are working to understand our planet's ecosystems and preserve the environment.
High above the planet floats a set of four satellites called the A-Train.
Designed to monitor our planet's health, the satellites are equipped with JPL-built instruments for studying our oceans, air and land.
JPL is also extending the reach of telescopes for astronomy.
The Spitzer Space Telescope uses the insight of infrared technology to study celestial objects not easily seen by conventional instruments.
With JPL's rich history in robotic investigation, environmental science and astronomy, the center is perhaps NASA's most versatile facility.
Given JPL's extraordinary experience, the Lab is sure to be at the forefront of missions as the United States explores the Earth, Moon, Mars and beyond.