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JPL Dares Mighty Things
Reaching for the stars since 1936
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Milestones
December 11
Deep Space Optical Communications
First Video From Deep Space Via Laser
April 19
Ingenuity
First Powered, Controlled Flight on Another Planet
April 6, 2019
InSight
First Likely Quake Detected on Another Planet
Nov. 26, 2018
Mars Cube One
First CubeSats Fly by Another Planet
July 2018
Cold Atom Lab
First Production of the Fifth State of Matter in Orbit
June 13, 2018
GRACE-FO
First Laser Ranging Between Spacecraft
September 15, 2017
Cassini End of Mission
First Mission to Plunge Into the Saturn Atmosphere
April 26, 2017
Cassini
First Spacecraft to Dive Between Saturn and Its Rings
February 22, 2017
Spitzer Space Telescope
First System of Seven Earth-Sized Planets Around a Single Star Revealed
July 4, 2016
Juno
First Solar-Powered Spacecraft at Jupiter
March 6, 2015
Dawn Mission
First Spacecraft to Visit a Dwarf Planet and First Spacecraft to Orbit Two Extraterrestrial Destinations
October 8, 2014
NuStar
First Discovery of an Ultraluminous Pulsar
August 6, 2014
OCO-2
First High-Precision Global Measurements of Carbon Dioxide
February 8, 2013
Mars Curiosity Rover
First Sample Drilling on Mars
December 5, 2012
GRAIL
First High-Resolution Gravity Map of the Moon
August 25, 2012
Voyager 1
First Spacecraft to Enter Interstellar Space
August 6, 2012
Mars Curiosity Rover
First Skycrane Landing
June 28, 2012
NuSTAR Mission
First Focused Images of the High-Energy Universe from an Orbiting Telescope
January 1, 2012
First Twin “Formation-Flying” Spacecraft at Another World
December 20, 2011
Kepler Mission
First Detection of Earth-Sized Exoplanet
July 27, 2011
WISE Mission
First Detection of Earth Trojan Asteroid
July 15, 2011
Dawn Mission
First Protoplanet Orbiter
July 22, 2006
Cassini-Huygens Mission
First Images of Extraterrestrial Lakes and Seas
May 20, 2006
CloudSat
First Vertical Profiles of Earth’s Clouds from Orbit
January 15, 2006
Stardust
First Comet Sample
July 4, 2005
Deep Impact
First Spacecraft to Impact Comet
March 22, 2005
Spitzer Space Telescope
First Direct Detection of Light From Exoplanet
February 16, 2005
Cassini
First Hint of an Ocean at Saturn's Moon Enceladus
September 8, 2004
Genesis
First Solar Wind Sample From Solar Orbit
June 30, 2004
Cassini
First Saturn Orbiter
January 3 & 24, 2004
Spirit and Opportunity
First Long-Range Mars Rovers
May 28, 2002
Mars Odyssey
First Detection of Frozen Water Beneath the Surface of Mars
April 4, 2002
GRACE
First Measurements of Earth’s Shifting Water
February 11, 2000
Shuttle Radar Topography
First Topographic Map of Earth From Space
October 24, 1998
Deep Space 1
First Ion Engine on Planetary Spacecraft
July 4, 1997
Mars Pathfinder
First Successful Planetary Rover
December 8, 1995
Galileo
First Jupiter Orbiter
May 25, 1993
Magellan
First Mission to Use 'Aerobraking' and Crash Intentionally Into a Planet
October 29, 1991
Galileo
First Asteroid Flyby
October 6, 1990
Ulysses
First Spacecraft in a Polar Orbit Around the Sun
August 25, 1989
Voyager 2
First Neptune Flyby
January 24, 1986
Voyager 2
First Uranus Mission
January 25, 1983
IRAS
First Infrared Telescope in Space
March 4, 1979
Voyager 1
First Images of Volcanic Plumes on Another World
June 27, 1978
Seasat
First Oceanographic Satellite
August 20, 1975
Viking 1 Orbiter
First U.S. Spacecraft to Ferry Lander to Mars
March 29, 1974
Mariner 10
First Mercury Mission
February 5, 1974
Mariner 10
First Multi-Planet Mission
November 14, 1971
Mariner 9
First Planetary Orbiter
June 2, 1966
Surveyor 1
First U.S. Soft Landing on the Moon
July 15, 1965
Mariner 4
First Mars Flyby
July 28, 1964
Ranger 7
First Successful U.S. Mission to the Moon
December 24, 1963
Deep Space Network
First Network for Deep Space Communication
December 14, 1962
Mariner 2
First Planetary Flyby
March 3, 1959
Pioneer 4
First U.S. Mission to Escape Earth Orbit
December 3, 1958
One of the First Centers in the Newly Created NASA
January 31, 1958
Explorer 1
America's First Satellite
September 20, 1956
Re-Entry Test Vehicle Program
First Flight of Technology for Returning Warheads from Space
May 22, 1947
America's First Guided Ballistic Missile
December 1, 1944
JPL's First Test of Experimental Missile for the U.S. Army
January 1939
JPL's First Project for the U.S. Army
October 31, 1936
First Rocket Tests by Founders of What Would Become the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
