Draft Genome Sequences of Heat Shock-Tolerant Microbes Isolated from a Spacecraft Assembly Facility

Heat shock-tolerant microorganisms belonging to the orders Bacillales and Micrococcales were isolated from the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and 63 draft genome sequences were assembled and identified. Further analyses of these genomes can provide insight into methods for preventing forward contamination.

The Current Status of JPL’s SmallSat Developments

<p>Abstract -The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has been at the forefront of finding ways to deliver big science returns in small packages.  This talk will describe the current state of missions and capabilities across the mission lifecycle from early concept formulation and implementation through on-orbit operations.  From examining how we use concurrent engineering tools, processes and teams for the development of small instruments as well as complete missions, this talk will focus on expanding the capabilities of science using small spacecraft to enable missions for Planetary Science, Astrophysics, Heliophysics and Earth Science. Highlighted key technologies and science measurements will be described.</p>

Records of Planetary Observations in Ancient Japan Before the 11th Century

The records of planetary observations in Japan in the 7th century ad are treated separately from other records because they are written in the Nihongi. It is known that Japanese observational astronomy was recorded in the 7th century ad, but astronomy in Japan did not evolve straightforward in that century. There are thirty-one records that exist from that time, including four records on the Moon and planets. Correspondingly, a new interpretation of Japanese ancient history has been proposed. For the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries, records have been compiled on the relative motion of the Moon and the planets, the motion of planets in the constellations, and stars seen in the daytime, as stated in Japanese recorded history. These records are written in Chinese, as in the case of the Nihongi, but have been translated into English. The orbits of the Moon and planets have been calculated using the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) development ephemeris (DE) in order to confirm the validity of the records. The numbers of records and observations are not the same because one record may contain multiple observations. The accuracy of individual observations is discussed.

Abandon in Place

After returning home from Europe in 1978, Bradbury was unable to come to agreement with the Smithsonian over “The Ghosts of Forever,” an animated film fantasy tour of the various Smithsonian museums. Chapter 12 goes on to document how the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 journeys to the outer solar system prompted NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech to bring Bradbury back together with his “Mars and the Mind of Man” colleagues Arthur C. Clarke, Carl Sagan, and JPL director Bruce Murray to form the symposium “Jupiter and the Mind of Man.” The chapter also describes the uneven production and mixed reception of the NBC miniseries of The Martian Chronicles, and Bradbury’s Emmy-winning ABC collaboration with Malcolm Clarke on “Infinite Horizons: Space Beyond Apollo.”

Visions of Mars

The digitized copy of The Martian Chronicles, along with many other stories, novels, and science fiction art inspired by the Red Planet, finally reached Mars aboard the Phoenix lander in 2008. Chapter 43 describes Bradbury’s final trip to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory the following year, the publication of his last story collection, We’ll Always Have Paris (2008), and the passing of Don Congdon, his agent for more than sixty years. Bradbury had come to measure each story he finished as one more victory over death, but the stories were coming more slowly now. Bradbury’s reflections on mortality during the final decades of his life, and his unfinished plans for a final story collection, close out chapter 43.

A Selective History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology had its origins in a student project to develop rocket propulsion in the late 1930s. It attracted funding from the U.S. Army just prior to U.S. entry into World War II and became an Army missile research facility in 1943. Because of its origins as a contractor-operated Army research facility, JPL is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) only contractor-operated field center. It remains a unit of the California Institute of Technology. In the decades since its founding, the laboratory, first under U.S. Army direction and then as a NASA field center, has grown and evolved into an internationally recognized institution generally seen as a leader in solar system exploration but whose portfolio includes substantial Earth remote sensing. JPL’s history includes episodes where the course of the laboratory’s development took turning points into new directions. After developing short-range ballistic missiles for the Army, the laboratory embarked on a new career in lunar and planetary exploration through the early 1970s and abandoned its original purpose as a propulsion technology laboratory. It developed the telecommunications infrastructure for planetary exploration too. It diversified into Earth science and astrophysics in the late 1970s and, due to a downturn in funding for planetary exploration, returned to significant amounts of defense work in the 1980s. The end of the Cold War between 1989 and 1991 resulted in a declining NASA budget, but support for planetary exploration actually improved within NASA management—as long as that exploration could be done more cheaply. This resulted in what is known as the “Faster Better Cheaper” period in NASA history. For JPL, this ended in 2000, succeeded by a return to more rigorous technical standards and increased costs.