Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center managed by the California Institute of Technology for NASA. Established on October 31, 1936, and located in La Cañada Flintridge, California, JPL specializes in the design and operation of robotic planetary spacecraft and oversees NASA's Deep Space Network. The laboratory is involved in a variety of significant space missions, including the Mars Science Laboratory, the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, and the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Additionally, JPL is responsible for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Dawn mission to the dwarf planet Ceres and asteroid Vesta, the Juno spacecraft heading to Jupiter, the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), and the Spitzer Space Telescope. Its facilities, including a notable space flight operations center and a twenty-five-foot space simulator, are recognized as national historic landmarks.