Ninety years ago this Halloween, a group of Caltech graduate students hauled a small rocket motor into the Arroyo Seco near Pasadena and tried to fire it up. It didn’t go as planned, but that moment became the unofficial birthday of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Now, for the first time in the lab’s history, NASA is opening JPL’s management contract to competition. Historian Peter Westwick, author of “Into the Black: JPL and the American Space Program, 1976-2004,” joins Casey Dreier to trace JPL’s path from Army rocketry to the outer planets, the moments when the lab had to reinvent itself to survive, and its sometimes tense relationship with Caltech. Together, they tackle a question that has followed the lab for decades: Is it Caltech’s JPL or NASA’s JPL?

Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/whose-jpl-is-it

Ninety years ago this Halloween, a group of Caltech graduate students hauled a small rocket motor into the Arroyo Seco near Pasadena and tried to fire it up. It didn&rsquo;t go as planned, but that moment became the unofficial birthday of NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Now, for the first time in the lab&rsquo;s history, NASA is opening JPL&rsquo;s management contract to competition. Historian Peter Westwick, author of &ldquo;Into the Black: JPL and the American Space Program, 1976-2004,&rdquo; joins Casey Dreier to trace JPL&rsquo;s path from Army rocketry to the outer planets, the moments when the lab had to reinvent itself to survive, and its sometimes tense relationship with Caltech. Together, they tackle a question that has followed the lab for decades: Is it Caltech&rsquo;s JPL or NASA&rsquo;s JPL?
Discover more at: <a href="https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/whose-jpl-is-it">https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/whose-jpl-is-it</a>

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts who are taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bruce Betts as they dive deep into space science and exploration. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway where the future of the US space program hangs in the balance. Visit planetary.org/radio for an episode guide and much more.

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our Solar System and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts who are taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye the Science Guy and Bruce Betts as they dive deep into space science and exploration. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway where the future of the US space program hangs in the balance. Visit planetary.org/radio for an episode guide and much more.

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Bruce Betts, chief scientist for The Planetary Society, as they dive deep into the latest space news. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway with Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly to discuss the politics of space exploration in the US and advocacy actions you can take to support the missions that matter. Visit planetary.org/radio for the space trivia contest, an episode guide, and much more.

Planetary Radio brings you the human adventure across our solar system and beyond. We visit each week with the scientists, engineers, leaders, advocates, and astronauts taking us across the final frontier. Regular features raise your space IQ while they put a smile on your face. Join host Sarah Al-Ahmed and Planetary Society colleagues including Bill Nye, the Science Guy, and Bruce Betts, chief scientist for The Planetary Society, as they dive deep into the latest space news. The monthly Space Policy Edition takes you inside the DC beltway with Casey Dreier and Jack Kiraly to discuss the politics of space exploration in the US and advocacy actions you can take to support the missions that matter. Visit planetary.org/radio for the space trivia contest, an episode guide, and much more.

Historian Peter Westwick joins Casey Dreier to explore JPL’s 90-year history, from Army rockets to planetary exploration, as NASA opens the lab’s management contract to competition for the first time.