NASA reviews 90 years of JPL and presents its upcoming projects

From rocket tests to space milestones

NASA traces the origins of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to rocket propulsion tests conducted in Arroyo Seco, Pasadena, by a group of Caltech graduate students and enthusiasts. The agency notes that the laboratory, managed by Caltech for NASA, grew out of that work and presents its anniversary as an opportunity to review achievements and future projects (NASA: JPL history and upcoming projects).

According to the institutional overview, JPL initially worked as a contractor for the U.S. Army. In 1958, it launched Explorer 1, which NASA identifies as the first U.S. satellite. The spacecraft carried a Geiger counter that detected the radiation belts around Earth. That same year, the laboratory joined the newly established NASA. In 1964, it sent Ranger 7, which the agency describes as the first U.S. mission to the Moon.

NASA also credits the laboratory with milestones such as the first planetary flyby, the first probe to visit the four gas giant planets, the first infrared telescope, the first rovers to drive on Mars, and the first rotorcraft to fly there. The article presents these as part of JPL’s history, without detailing the methods or results needed to compare them independently.

Future missions to Mars, the Moon, and the Sun

The portfolio described by NASA includes projects that are still planned, not results already achieved. SkyFall, managed by JPL, is targeting a launch in 2028. The mission would deploy three helicopters during descent onto Mars to search for hidden ice deposits and analyze weather patterns.

JPL is developing MoonFall to support the NASA Moon Base initiative. The mission is planned for 2028 and would take a group of large propulsion drones to the lunar south pole. The source does not detail their design or deployment procedures.

SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) is scheduled for launch in 2027. NASA says that six satellites would fly in formation to create a large radio antenna and study solar activity. The agency suggests that the findings could help make space exploration safer for people, but does not quantify this potential benefit.

The table summarizes the objectives and schedules as NASA presents them: the dates are plans, not confirmations of launches or deployments. The article does not provide budgets, detailed schedules, technical risks, or success criteria for assessing mission feasibility.

Planetary defense and Earth observation

NASA presents NEO Surveyor (Near-Earth Object Surveyor), managed by JPL, as a mission to search for potentially hazardous space objects that other telescopes cannot find. Once an object is detected, the agency could provide a threat assessment and plan a response. The excerpt does not specify the launch date, detection range, or criteria for that assessment.

The article also describes Earth observation projects. One mission would measure small changes in gravity to track the movement of water; another would study how intense tropical convective storms form; and a third would analyze how different types of air pollution affect human health. The text does not provide their names, dates, or methodological details.

Among the initiatives cited is NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), a joint mission with the Indian Space Research Organisation that, according to NASA, can detect changes on Earth’s surface related to natural disasters. The agency also mentions AVIRIS (Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer), a series of instruments carried on aircraft that can detect rare-earth elements relevant to modern technology.

Instruments and scope of the information

NASA links the development of AVIRIS sensors to JPL’s Microdevices Laboratory. The source credits that laboratory with developing “camera-on-a-chip” technology that makes it possible to take photographs with cell phones. It also notes that detectors for PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics) are being developed there. In the article, NASA describes PRIMA as a mission to study radiant energy visible only in the far infrared. The excerpt does not describe the design of those detectors or PRIMA’s schedule.

CERN’s pages provide context about other research settings, but do not independently corroborate JPL’s history or projects. CERN describes experiments that use accelerators, facilities, and international collaborations (CERN: experiments). Its computing page explains that the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid gives a community of thousands of physicists access to LHC data (CERN: computing). These are examples of experimental organization and data management at CERN; they do not allow inferences about how data from JPL missions will be designed or processed.

The information about JPL comes from NASA’s institutional presentation. The excerpt lists milestones, objectives, and plans, but does not provide independent evaluations, results from future missions, budgets, technical risks, or data to quantify anticipated benefits. Future dates and activities should be understood as plans described by the agency, not as completed facts.