This is the Jet Propulsion Lab's annual report for 2010 JPL's accomplishments in 2010 revealed some diverse ways in which its missions and programs explored not only space, but touched the lives of so many people. The year certainly had its exciting moments off the planet. Perhaps the highlight was in November when one of JPL's well-traveled spacecraft flew closely past a comet - the smallest such body ever visited, one described by scientists as hyperactive, small and feisty. Numerous other missions continued to hold the nation's attention with important science results from Mars, Saturn and the stars and galaxies beyond. There were high points in engineering. Who could fail to feel their pulse quicken as we watched the next Mars rover take final shape in a clean room in preparation for its fall 2011 launch joined by millions who tuned in to watch it being assembled via live webcam. JPL's largest dish antenna in California's Mojave Desert - a colossus of space communication that has served as the gateway to dozens of spacecraft since it was built a half century ago - was the beneficiary of a critical overhaul to keep it tracking smoothly across the sky. This tuneup will prepare JPL well for an array of mission activities in 2011-2012, when JPL will launch five new missions and execute key flight events including landings and arrivals. As this annual report was going to press in January 2011, the laboratory was recovering from the sudden death of Rick Grammier, the senior executive in charge of solar system exploration. This was a great loss for the laboratory. Rick's passing also reminded everyone that, while the day-to-day work takes JPL far into realms of abstractions, in the end what is most important about what it does is how it touches individual human lives. JPL's technologies are only as good as the improvements they make in human experience.


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