Slice of History - Breaking Barriers in Space and on Earth

When Electronics Engineer Kenneth Kelly landed a job at JPL designing antenna systems for Mars rovers, he was already a seasoned veteran in the aerospace industry. In fact, he had already retired once before after a long, distinguished career at Hughes Aircraft Company. But Kelly never truly retired — he just kept finding new frontiers to explore.

“He loved working at JPL,” Kelly’s son Ron Kelly said. “For years he was working there and then finally he said he was going to retire so he had this huge retirement party for him — and the next day he was back consulting at JPL.”

That restless drive defined Kelly’s life; if there was a barrier, he found a way to break through it. His tenure at JPL was just the capstone of a remarkable career and life — one that left an undeniable mark on both space exploration and civil rights in Southern California.

Born in New York City, Kelly was raised by a single mother and showed an insatiable curiosity for science and engineering at a young age. He refused to accept the limits imposed by segregation, challenging policies at both Brooklyn Tech High School and the U.S. Navy. He wrote letters compelling administrators to recognize his remarkable aptitude in math and engineering and allow him opportunities for admission and advancement. That same determination carried him west to Los Angeles in the 1940s, where he launched a groundbreaking career in aerospace.

Over the next 40 years, Kelly produced over a dozen patents for innovations in antenna and radar technology. His work for Hughes — which is referenced in peer-reviewed journals as far back as 1955 — contributed to technology that tracked the Apollo moon missions, made DirectTV and Sirius XM possible, and searched for signs of life in the massive Mojave Desert radiotelescopes.

While Kelly was shaping the future of space exploration, he was also reshaping his own community on Earth — taking on racist laws, business practices, and stereotypes in Southern California. When Kelly first tried to buy a house in Gardena in 1962, he was spurned. Real estate agents refused to sell to him, and some wouldn’t return his calls. But Kelly found a way forward. He enlisted white colleagues from Hughes Aircraft to purchase the house for him, later transferring the title into his name. Once he moved in, he wrote a letter to his new neighbors.

“We have pretty much the same hopes, fears, ambitions, strengths, and frailties that have typified all of human existence,” Kelly wrote to his white neighbors when he moved into the neighborhood. He urged his neighbors to set aside “stereotyped notions,” and see them as neighbors like any other family.

A similar experience in Northridge, CA some years later led Kelly to become more involved in housing discrimination. He would go on to become the president of the San Fernando Valley Fair Housing Council, lobbying the local government and going to court to challenge discriminatory practices. He also became a realtor, which allowed him to personally help more Black families move into previously white suburbs in the 1970s.

But Kelly never stopped working on aerospace projects, even continuing contract work during the time he worked in fair housing. Eventually, Kelly took his decades of deep space experience to NASA itself, joining the Spacecraft Antennas Group at JPL in 1999.

“I was the lead for the MER antennas and Ken’s experience came in handy when it came to developing a UHF antenna that would be used on the [Mars Exploration Rover] rover deck,” said Spacecraft Antennas Group Supervisor Joseph Vacchione. “Ken had a lot of antenna engineering under his belt by the time he came to JPL and he generated several interesting antennas that were of particular interest to the telecom systems engineers.”

“I think [JPL] was a natural place for him to end up,” Ron Kelly said of his father. “He started at Hughes Aircraft with antenna arrays, antenna telescopes, the antennas on the [Apollo Missions] — he's always been involved in one way or another in space exploration.”

Kelly’s impact extended beyond his own career. According to Vacchione, one of Kelly’s antenna designs has seen a resurgence and is currently flying on NASA missions today. The housing laws and norms he fought against were eventually overturned, and the families he helped find homes created lasting communities.

What fueled Kelly’s achievements in both technology and social progress, despite the odds, unjust laws, and cultural barriers stacked against him? In his own words:

“I think I’m a crazy optimist,” Kelly said in an oral history recorded by his family. “I’m definitely a half-glass-full person. I meet so many people who are pessimistic. I always thought I could.” CL#25-0821

This Slice of History was based on information from the LA Times, New York Times, Associated Press, and an interview with Kelly's son, Ron Kelly.

The content presented here should be viewed in the context of the time period. Our intent is to present the history of JPL in a factual manner that uses primary resources and historical context. We recognize that some information or images do not reflect the current values, policies, and mission of JPL.