We are so fortunate to live next to some of the most renowned research facilities in the world.  Jet Propulsion Laboratory also known as JPL is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center. It is located in Pasadena on the border of La Canada and is managed by Caltech (California Institute of Technology) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

If you are interested in space exploration, open your calendars and mark May 14th and May 15th since you will be going to you will be going to JPL’s annual Open House.

Here’s a blurb from their 2011 Open House flyer:

The future is now at JPL’s annual Open House, where the Laboratory is welcoming its neighbors Saturday and Sunday, May 14–15, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event offers special videos and shows to see, children’s activities for the younger members of your family, mission personnel to chat with, numerous exhibits and much more.

This is an exciting year for JPL’s robotic explorers. In the past twelve months, two spacecraft made close encounters of comets. This summer, the Dawn spacecraft will arrive at the giant asteroid Vesta. In 2011, JPL will launch the Aquarius satellite studying Earth’s ocean, the Juno mission to Jupiter, the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory’s twin spacecraft to Earth’s moon, and JPL’s next-generation rover — Mars Science Laboratory’s Curiosity. Learn all about
these and other projects as you tour the Laboratory.

For more information, please visit JPL Open House 2011 site.

Little known fact: There is a tradition at JPL to eat “good luck peanuts” before critical mission events, such as orbital insertions or landings. As the story goes, after the Ranger program had experienced failure after failure during the 1960s, the first successful Ranger mission to impact the moon occurred while a JPL staff member was eating peanuts. The staff jokingly decided that the peanuts must have been a good luck charm and the tradition persisted . Source – Wikipedia

JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive in Pasadena, off the 210 (Foothill) Freeway at the Berkshire Avenue/Oak Grove Drive exit. Parking is available near the Oak Grove main gate and the eastern boundary of JPL, accessible from Windsor Avenue via the Arroyo Boulevard exit off the 210 Freeway.

Admission and Parking are FREE!

May 14th and May 15th from 9 am to 5 pm.

Visit 365 Things To Do In Pasadena®  for more fun activities in Pasadena California and surrounding neighborhoods.