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Intro music.

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With a reputation for ingenious creativity and clever innovation, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California

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is a center known for its daring robotic missions to Mars and beyond.

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JPL's prosperous history dates back to the 1930s.

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The foundation for the laboratory was laid in the city of Pasadena by the California Institute of Technology.

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A curious group of university researchers was interested in experimenting with rocket engines.

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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.

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After developing rocket engines for military aircraft, the Caltech team was asked to analyze the German military's infamous V2 rocket.

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Its study of the V2 led to the group's proposal to engineer a missile system for the United States military.

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In their proposal, the team referred to themselves for the very first time as "the Jet Propulsion Laboratory."

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In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik - the first human-made satellite to be placed in space.

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With the start of the space race now officially underway,

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the United States Army responded by directing JPL to quickly construct a satellite of our own.

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Launched only four months later, the Lab's answer was Explorer 1- a satellite designed to study cosmic rays

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and meet the challenge issued by the Soviet Union.

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In late 1958, JPL was transferred from Army control to the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration

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in order to continue developing spacecraft.

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Today, NASA and Caltech work in partnership in creating robotic missions to investigate our Solar System and deep space.

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As a planetary exploration center, JPL routinely sets new records and breaks through barriers in space flight.

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While on its way to Mercury, Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to use the gravity of another planet, Venus, to boost its speed.

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The Voyager spacecraft have also left marks in the record books.

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After visiting Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have encountered four different planets.

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Voyager 1 continues this legacy of intrepid exploration as it traverses interstellar space and stands as our most distantly traveled spacecraft.

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As JPL missions triumphantly ventured farther into space, scientists began to eye our nearest planetary neighbor: Mars.

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Since 1975, JPL has launched a flurry of robotic craft to the red planet.

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When the Viking lander touched down in 1976, the Lab's Viking orbiter relayed communications between Earth and Mars.

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After almost 30 years, the missions to Mars continue.

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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.

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In addition to our nearest planetary neighbor, JPL continues to mount ambitious missions to other regions of our Solar System.

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The Cassini spacecraft bound for Saturn plans to spend four years investigating the ringed planet and its many surrounding moons.

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Cassini also delivered the Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon - Titan.

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A murky and obscure moon, scientists suspect Titan's atmosphere is similar to that of our Earth shortly before life formed.

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At home on Earth, JPL scientists are working to understand our planet's ecosystems and preserve the environment.

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High above the planet floats a set of four satellites called the A-Train.

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Designed to monitor our planet's health, the satellites are equipped with JPL-built instruments for studying our oceans, air and land.

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JPL is also extending the reach of telescopes for astronomy.

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The Spitzer Space Telescope uses the insight of infrared technology to study celestial objects not easily seen by conventional instruments.

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With JPL's rich history in robotic investigation, environmental science and astronomy, the center is perhaps NASA's most versatile facility.

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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.

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