CONGRESS COMMENDS ROVER TEAM.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Congress sent its official kudos Wednesday to Pasadena's Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. and NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. , congratulating the science team on the Mars Rover A Mars rover is an unmanned rover used for exploration of the planet Mars. They are deployed because it has so far been too costly and difficult to achieve a manned mission to Mars, and because probes and satellites are too limited (due to their immobility or their distance from Spirit mission. The House voted 389-0 to approve the resolution commending JPL (language) JPL - JAM Programming Language. , the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), and Cornell University ``for their years of effort leading up to the successful entry, descent, landing and operation of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on the Martian surface.'' House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert, R-N R-N Raion (Russian, district; used in postal addresses) .Y., called the Mars mission ``at once mundane and otherworldly. Simple to recite, yet mind-boggling to contemplate.'' ``Even though the work on the martian surface has just begun, the team at JPL and Cornell has already provided us with priceless inspiration and new ways to see our universe,'' Boehlert said. The 400-pound Spirit landed successfully Jan. 3 on the surface of Mars and made contact with martian soil about a week later. An identical rover named Opportunity is scheduled to land on the opposite side of the planet Saturday. Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, who introduced the resolution, and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, both had high praise Wednesday for the science team. ``Every American space probe that has visited another planet was managed by JPL,'' Schiff noted. In addition to commending JPL, NASA and Cornell University (Dr. Stephen Squyers of Cornell led the development of scientific instruments on the rovers), the resolution also recounts the history of space exploration - starting with JPL's 1958 development and launch of Explorer 1, the first U.S. satellite. Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com |
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