An experimental ultrasonic drill designed by Dr. Yoseph Bar-Cohen and his team turns rock into powder with little power. The Cassini spacecraft is scheduled to reach Saturn in 2004. Today, JPL is a sprawling suburban campus. The place is nicely landscaped. It has a fountain.
Employees eat lunch at outdoor tables.
It is also confusing to navigate. The map given out by the visitors center lists so many buildings, and the names are printed in such a small size that you almost need the Hubble Telescope to read it. A few of those campus edifices are open to tourists. From this perch, visitors can watch the Network Operations Director and other JPL staffers staring at banks of computer terminals, monitoring data from various satellites. High up on the front wall, a digital readout counts down the time to upcoming launches, as well as the retirement date of a longtime employee.