NASA JPL outlines Mars, Moon and Sun missions for coming years

NASA said the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by Caltech for NASA, marked 90 years of innovation and exploration. The lab marked the period from rocket-propulsion tests in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco on Oct. 31, 1936 to missions planned for Mars, the Moon and the Sun.

NASA said JPL launched Explorer 1 in 1958, the first spacecraft to conduct science, after its onboard Geiger counter discovered Earth’s protective radiation belts. The lab joined NASA that year. In 1964, JPL sent Ranger 7, the first U.S. mission to the Moon, and later led the first rovers to roll on Mars and the first rotorcraft to fly there.

NASA said the JPL-managed SkyFall mission aims for a 2028 launch. It will deploy three helicopters mid-descent over Mars to map hidden ice deposits and analyze weather patterns. JPL is also developing MoonFall under NASA’s Moon Base program. The mission aims to land large propulsive drones at the lunar South Pole in 2028.

NASA said SunRISE is set for a 2027 launch. The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment will use six toaster-oven-size satellites flying in formation to create a miles-wide radio antenna dish for studying the Sun’s activity. The JPL-managed NEO Surveyor will hunt for potentially hazardous space rocks that other telescopes cannot find and support NASA threat assessments.

NASA said several JPL Earth missions will monitor water movement through gravity changes, study tropical convective storms and detail the effects of air pollution on human health. NISAR, a joint mission with the Indian Space Research Organisation, will pinpoint changes to Earth’s surface in relation to natural disasters. JPL’s AVIRIS sensors can detect rare Earth elements, while detectors for the newly announced PRIMA mission will study radiant energy visible only in the far-infrared.

NASA said Voyager 1 reaches a full light-day from Earth on Nov. 18. The distance is some 16 billion miles, or 26 billion kilometers, the distance light will travel in 24 hours. Ed Stone led the mission for 50 years and served as JPL’s director for 10 of them. He died in 2024. Both Voyagers will turn 50 next year and continue exploring interstellar space with NASA’s Deep Space Network.