Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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 Aerial view of JPL |
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | October 31, 1936 |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters |
La Canada Flintridge, California, U.S. 34°12′6.1″N 118°10′18″W / 34.201694°N 118.17167°WCoordinates: 34°12′6.1″N 118°10′18″W / 34.201694°N 118.17167°W |
| Employees | > 5,000 |
| Agency executive |
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| Parent agency | Managed for NASA by Caltech |
| Child agency | |
| Website | JPL home page |
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in La Cañada Flintridge, California and Pasadena, California, United States.
The JPL is managed by the nearby California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for NASA. The laboratory's primary function is the construction and operation of planetary robotic spacecraft, though it also conducts Earth-orbit and astronomy missions. It is also responsible for operating NASA's Deep Space Network.
Among the laboratory's current major active projects are the Mars Science Laboratory mission (which includes the Curiosity rover), the Cassini–Huygens mission orbiting Saturn, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Dawn mission to the dwarf planet Ceres and asteroid Vesta, the Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter, the NuSTAR X-ray telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope. They are also responsible for managing the JPL Small-Body Database, and provides physical data and lists of publications for all known small Solar System bodies.
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