sign in sign up
<<
Home , 2012 in spaceflight, Bethany Ehlmann, Creation of NASA, Explorer 1, Galileo (spacecraft), Gharib (crater)

Exploration and Achievement CAMPUS + JPL COLLABORATION 2 AND ACHIEVEMENT 4 EXPLORING THE 8 PROBING THE COSMOS 12 UNDERSTANDING OUR 16 NAVIGATING AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS 20 FUELING INNOVATION 24 INSPIRING SCIENTIFIC 28 A HISTORY OF COLLABORATION 2 3 “The and ambition of JPL helps define the character of Caltech. Together, we unlock the secrets

EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION of the , ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION the changes on our planet, capture Exploration and the imagination of “When our our fellow citizens, venture to or Achievement and inspire the next on journeys generation of scholars. of discovery, they More than eight decades ago, faculty at Caltech established the Jet We are able to think carry a handful of Laboratory. Since 1958, Caltech has big because the instruments but also worked alongside NASA to keep the separation between the imaginations at the of our campuses of millions of exploration and planetary . remains small.” people. Working Today, campus and Lab researchers with colleagues on collaborate across a variety of missions —THOMAS F. ROSENBAUM and disciplines to advance understanding Caltech President campus and across Sonja and William Davidow of and the universe. Presidential Chair NASA, we continue to Professor of Physics forge new directions toward even greater discoveries.”

—MICHAEL M. WATKINS Caltech Vice President Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Artist’s concept of the TRAPPIST-1 system. Professor of and Geophysics 4 5

EXPLORING THE EXPLORING THE SOLAR SYSTEM THE EXPLORING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Solar System

Former JPL director William Pickering (BS ’32, MS ’33, PhD ’36) launched the first U.S. , Explorer I, into in 1958. Since then, campus and Lab have continued to lead the world in robotic exploration of the solar system with spacecraft that study Earth’s planetary neighbors and traverse beyond the frontiers of interstellar space.

An taken by of Saturn’s icy . 6 7

After five years and 1.8 billion of space travel, the Juno spacecraft arrived at in July 2016. The mission, whose science team includes Caltech planetary scientists Andrew Ingersoll and Dave Stevenson and physicist Ed Stone, investigates the ’s formation. Understanding Jupiter’s past

could hold clues about the origin of on Earth. SOLAR SYSTEM THE EXPLORING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Engineers working on Voyager in in 1977.

LOOKING AHEAD Voyager TO

The twin Voyager spacecraft, launched in 1977, are each more than 10 billion miles from Earth. Their pioneering mission, led by project scientist and Caltech physicist Ed Stone, has contributed extraordinary discoveries in , including that of an Earth-like on Saturn’s moon and active volcanoes on Jupiter’s moon . is the only spacecraft to have flown by all four outer —

Jupiter, Saturn, , and —while is the first to The swirling cloud patterns of Jupiter. have entered interstellar space. Ken Farley, Caltech’s W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of and former chair of the Division of Geological Mars Science and Planetary Sciences Cassini (GPS), is project scientist for the Mars 2020 mission, Before taking its final, fiery dive into Saturn’s Laboratory which is scheduled to atmosphere in September 2017, the Cassini send a new rover to the spacecraft—designed, developed, and In August 2012, the mission’s Red Planet in 2020. In a bold step forward in Mars assembled at JPL—spent 13 years orbiting Curiosity rover landed in Crater. The largest and exploration, Curiosity’s the planet. During that time, Cassini made advanced vehicle ever sent to Mars, Curiosity, successor will collect and dramatic discoveries, including that of a which functions as a mobile lab, has found evidence store samples that might liquid-water underneath the icy shell that water once flowed on the ancient . one day be returned to of the moon Enceladus. Caltech faculty and Caltech faculty members have played key roles on the Earth. Meanwhile, the Bruce Murray Laboratory alumni on the Cassini team included electrical mission: geologists Edward Stolper and John Grotzinger for Planetary Visualization, engineer, planetary scientist, and former JPL have served as project scientists, while planetary a state-of-the-art image director ; planetary scientist scientist and geochemist Ken Farley processing and data Duane Muhleman; planetary scientist Andrew are members of the science team. Ashwin Vasavada, visualization lab within Ingersoll; Torrence Johnson (PhD ’70); Carolyn project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory since GPS, has helped determine the best landing site for Porco (PhD ’83); and Dennis Matson (PhD ’72). 2015, earned his PhD at Caltech in 1998. the upcoming mission. An image of Saturn taken by Cassini. 8 9

PROBING THE PROBING THE COSMOS THE PROBING

EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Cosmos

With advanced that open unprecedented windows onto the cosmos, JPL and campus researchers explore the origins of the universe and investigate planets far beyond our , including some that may be hospitable to .

The W. M. Keck in Maunakea, Hawaii. 10 11 Space

In its search for —planets outside our solar COSMOS THE PROBING system—NASA’s Kepler detects the subtle dimming of a that occurs when a planet crosses in front of it. To date, Kepler’s primary and extended missions EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION have detected more than 2,500 exoplanets and more than 2,800 additional candidates. More than two dozen of those confirmed planets are roughly Earth-sized and potentially habitable. Mission development for the was managed at JPL, while the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (part of IPAC, on the Caltech campus) cataloged planets discovered by the telescope. MARSHALING TALENT

Artist’s concept of the TRAPPIST–1 planets.

Since its beginnings in the Spitzer Space 1930s, JPL has drawn on the intellectual strength K2-138, illustrated in this artist’s concept, is the first multi-planet system and depth of Caltech’s discovered by citizen scientists. Telescope faculty. For example, as principal investigator for The detects the Nuclear Spectroscopic energy emitted by distant and Telescope Array (NuSTAR), that otherwise would be invisible to researchers. Fiona Harrison—Caltech’s Benjamin M. Rosen The campus-based IPAC data processing and Tools for Professor of Physics analysis center manages science operations and the Kent and Joyce for the JPL-led mission, whose compelling Kresa Leadership discoveries include TRAPPIST-1, a system Detecting Life Chair of the Division of of seven Earth-sized planets around a single Physics, Mathematics and —worked star. Three of those planets are located in the While have discovered dozens of potentially with the Lab to conceive, habitable zone, the region around a star where habitable planets in recent years, it remains a challenge to develop, construct, and liquid water—and thus life—could exist. determine whether those planets in fact host life. Caltech’s launch the mission. One of the most powerful high- Launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope. Dimitri Mawet, also a senior research scientist at the Lab, works with colleagues in the Exoplanet energy X-ray telescopes ever built, NuSTAR provides Laboratory to develop a strategy for scanning exoplanets an extraordinary new for signs of life such as molecules and . perspective on black holes, stars, and the remnants of . 12 13 UNDERSTANDING OUR PLANET OUR UNDERSTANDING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION UNDERSTANDING Our Planet

Caltech’s strength in Earth and allows campus and Lab researchers to tackle some of humanity’s most urgent challenges, from climate change to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes.

An image of the setting over the Gulf of Mexico captured from the International . 14 15 Orbiting Advanced Rapid Observatory-2 Imaging and Analysis

Data from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) Using a combination of satellite data and seismic mission help scientists precisely measure the amount of observations from instruments around the world, the in Earth’s atmosphere and better understand Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis (ARIA) collaboration its sources and effects. The JPL-built satellite has also between campus and Lab has delivered precise enabled researchers—including Caltech environmental measurements of ground movement and block-by-block PLANET OUR UNDERSTANDING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION scientist and engineer Christian Frankenberg, who is also a maps of damage in the wake of recent natural disasters. research scientist at the Lab—to analyze plant productivity, Following earthquakes in Nepal and Mexico City and which could one day help determine the best regional Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, for instance, ARIA farming practices and identify early signs of drought. scientists provided first responders and government officials with information that helped guide recovery efforts.

GLACIER Atmospheric DYNAMICS Infrared Sounder

Launched into orbit in 2002 aboard NASA’s satellite, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) was designed to support climate research and improve forecasting. The instrument uses infrared technology to create 3-D images of air and surface , , and cloud properties. AIRS can also measure trace greenhouse gases, and researchers, including Caltech planetary Using a JPL-designed instrument mounted scientist Yuk L. Yung, who is also a senior research scientist to the underbelly of a at the Lab, have used it to study atmospheric carbon dioxide. Gulfstream III jet, Mark Simons, Caltech’s John W. and Herberta M. Miles Professor of Geophysics and chief scientist at JPL, has measured and imaged Iceland’s glaciers, in part to study how glaciers react to climate change. Researchers have used the same technique to measure motion above restless volcanoes.

An image of Hurricane Irma’s clouds created with data from AIRS. OCO-2 data has provided new details on varying carbon dioxide emissions around cities such as Los Angeles. 16 17 EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION

NAVIGATING SYSTEMS AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATING Autonomous Systems

Compelling developments in autonomous , from next-generation drones to walking to self-driving vehicles, build on the engineering prowess of campus and Lab and could, in turn, transform the future of .

Inside the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), which opened in October 2017. 18 19 EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION NAVIGATING AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS AUTONOMOUS NAVIGATING

CAST

JPL engineers lower a submersible into Alaska’s Matanuska Glacier.

At the Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST), researchers from JPL and the divisions of Engineering A -Assembled Robotic and Applied Science and Geological and Planetary Sciences collaborate to Space Telescope Submersibles build the hardware and that will Space telescopes provide some of the clearest Researchers from campus, Lab, and other drive autonomous systems images of the universe—the larger the telescope, institutions are developing artificial intelligence for exploration, medicine, and everyday life. Among the sharper the image. Yet space telescopes for robotic submersibles that can study marine the goals (“moonshots”) are typically limited in size due to the difficulty environments in ways cannot. The of CAST scientists and and expense of launching them. Now, Sergio artificial intelligence that enables a submersible engineers, including director Pellegrino, a Caltech aerospace and civil to plunge beneath the ocean surface, plot its Mory , Caltech’s Hans engineering professor and senior research own course, and make its own decisions could W. Liepmann Professor of and Bioinspired scientist at the Lab, and Joel Burdick, a Caltech someday be used to explore the -covered Engineering, is to develop and bioengineering of Jupiter’s moon . an autonomous flying professor who is also a Lab research scientist, ambulance that could rise have developed a strategy to circumvent the above urban gridlock and challenge: they have proposed a large telescope deliver a patient to safety. that would be sent to space in pieces and there assembled by robots. 20 21 FUELING INNOVATION FUELING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION

FUELING Innovation

Every year, campus and Lab innovations are transformed into commercially available technologies that amplify the impact of space and planetary research and strengthen the nation’s competitive advantage.

Technology developed at JPL helped put cameras in cell phones. 22 23 Cameras for Space and Cell Phones

Asked to miniaturize cameras for future spacecraft, INNOVATION FUELING a team at the Lab led by physicist Eric Fossum invented a new kind of image sensor that functions as a camera on a chip. That technology, the Complementary Metal EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), also made it possible to put cameras in cell phones. On campus, scientists are pursuing innovations in CMOS technology in from astronomy to medical engineering.

A Wireless DATA-DRIVEN Reflector Chip DISCOVERY

If the power needed to send and receive data from a wearable device (such as a personal fitness tracker) to a , cellular, or Wi-Fi network were reduced, users could recharge those devices less often. This challenge led researchers, including the Lab’s Adrian Tang, to develop microchips for wearable devices that reflect wireless signals instead of relying on transmitters and receivers to relay information. The technology transmits data using 1,000 times less power than a regular Wi-Fi and could one day be used George to transmit images from . Djorgovski directs the FINDER Center for Data-Driven Discovery, which applies FINDER (Finding Individuals for Disaster and Emergency Response) is a the data-processing suitcase-sized device that uses a low-powered signal to detect and analysis techniques movement as subtle as a pulse beneath rubble. The technology evolved pioneered by campus from the Lab’s efforts to develop small, low-cost instruments that measure minor and Lab scientists to new disciplines. For example, changes in spacecraft motion. After a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal the National Cancer in April 2015, rescue workers used FINDER to locate victims trapped under Institute has used data collapsed buildings. The technology has been licensed to two private companies science that originated and deployed in the aftermath of subsequent disasters including the Mexico City with space exploration earthquake in September 2017. to create the Early Detection Research Network, a consortium of biomedical investigators whose findings on cancer biomarkers are collected in a single searchable network. 24 25

INSPIRING INSPIRING SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY SCIENTIFIC INSPIRING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Scientific Curiosity

Public outreach and education initiatives, along with unparalleled opportunities for undergraduate and graduate student research on campus and at the Lab, contribute significantly to a robust space-science pipeline.

Employees and visitors at JPL observe the 2017 solar . 26 27

Public Events and Caltech Science Education Space Through public events such as A Ticket to Explore Challenge JPL, weekday tours, and the Theodore von Kármán Lecture Series, members of the public can explore As part of the biennial Caltech Space Challenge, INSPIRING SCIENTIFIC CURIOSITY SCIENTIFIC INSPIRING EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION interactive demonstrations and engage with campus teams of students from around the world develop and Lab researchers. strategies to address challenges in space exploration. During the weeklong competition, campus and Lab engineers and industry experts mentor participants.

KECK INSTITUTE FOR SPACE STUDIES Summer Research

Summer programs offer graduate and undergraduate students opportunities to engage in space and planetary science research alongside campus and Lab investigators.

Established in 2008 with a grant from the W. M. Keck Foundation, the Keck Institute for Space Studies (KISS) brings together expertise from campus, Lab, and the wider scientific and technical community to inspire, develop, and begin to implement ideas with the potential to revolutionize space science. KISS—led by Tom Prince, Caltech’s Ira S. Bowen Professor of Physics and senior research scientist at JPL—also invites graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to engage in space mission Undergraduate researchers work in the Mars Yard at JPL. research and contributes to public outreach through open lectures. A panel discussion celebrating the phonograph records aboard each Voyager spacecraft. The records contain sounds and images of life and culture on Earth. 28 A History of Collaboration 29

1936 1943 1957 1958 1964 1977 1985 A small group of The Caltech Soon after the Soviet , America’s 4 launches. Voyager 2 (August The IPAC data graduate students team refers to its Union launches first satellite—built by The Mariner missions 20) and Voyager 1 processing and and assistants organization for Sputnik on October 4, JPL—is launched on mark the beginning (September 5) are analysis center is

of physicist and the first time as 1957, the U.S. Army , 1958. of planetary , launched. The Voyager established on the COLLABORATION OF HISTORY A aerospace engineer “the Jet Propulsion commissions JPL to This pivotal space led by researchers spacecraft go on to Caltech campus. EXPLORATION AND ACHIEVEMENT AND EXPLORATION Theodore von Laboratory.” develop America’s leads to the at Caltech including visit more planets Kármán start response: Explorer 1. creation of NASA. Bruce Murray and than any other single testing handmade . mission. Caltech’s engines in Ed Stone has served Pasadena’s Arroyo as project scientist Seco. Their first for the Voyager rocket launch takes program from 1972 place there on to the present. Infrared image of the October 31, 1936. The future site of JPL star-forming region NGC 2174 Explorer 1 The launch of Explorer 1 Launch of

Voyager 1 Early history in the Arroyo Seco

1989 1997 2004 2008 2012 2016 2017 2020 NASA’s space Cassini arrives at KISS (the Keck Institute NuSTAR, a powerful The Juno spacecraft The Center for The Mars 2020 mission shuttle launches on the Red Planet Saturn and begins for Space Studies) high-energy X-ray arrives at Jupiter. Autonomous Systems is scheduled to send the first of three on July 4. Pathfinder an intensive study of is established on the telescope, is launched and Technologies a new rover to the Red JPL-managed solar marks the start its rings, , and Caltech campus. into orbit. Caltech (CAST) opens on Planet in 2020. system exploration of 20-plus years . physicist Fiona campus. missions: the of ongoing Mars Harrison serves as its mission to ; exploration, continuing principal investigator. the mission today with Curiosity. to Jupiter; and the mission to Jupiter study the sun’s poles. KISS facilities Artist’s concept of Saturn CAST facilities the Mars 2020 rover

Was 49a galaxy Artist’s concept merging with of Pathfinder Was 49b galaxy Cassini completes its tour of Saturn Magellan at Kennedy with a dive into Space Center the giant planet’s atmosphere. All images provided by NASA/JPL-Caltech www.caltech.edu