
	JPL grew up with the Space Age and helped bring it into being. It&#39;s a place where science, technology, and engineering intermix in unique ways: to produce iconic robotic space explorers sent to every corner of the solar system, to peer deep into the Milky Way galaxy and beyond, and to keep a watchful eye on our home planet. Analyzing the data pouring back from these machine emissaries, scientists around the world continue to discover how the universe, solar system and life formed and evolved.
	
	America&#39;s first satellite, Explorer 1, launched in 1958, was created at JPL. In the decades that followed, JPL sent the first robotic craft to the moon and out across the solar system.
	
	In total, JPL has 19 spacecraft and nine instruments conducting active missions. All of these are part of NASA&#39;s program of exploration of Earth and space with plans to send robots and humans to explore the moon, Mars and beyond. These ventures would not be possible without NASA&#39;s Deep Space Network managed by JPL. This international network of antenna complexes on several continents serves as the communication gateway between distant spacecraft and the Earth-based teams that guide them. While carrying out these exploration missions, JPL also conducts a number of space technology demonstrations in support of national security and develops technologies for uses on Earth in fields from public safety to medicine, capitalizing on NASA&#39;s investment in space technology.
