Managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the solar system. JPL spacecraft have visited all known planets except Pluto (a Pluto mission is currently under study for the early part of the next decade). In addition to its work for NASA, JPL conducts tasks for a variety of other federal agencies.

JPL's main 72-hectare (177-acre) site is at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains near Pasadena, California, 19 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Los Angeles. In addition, JPL manages the worldwide Deep Space Network (DSN), which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Pasadena Field Office is located across the street from the Seismological Laboratory at 525 S. Wilson Ave. and 535 S. Wilson Ave. The Seismo Lab and the USGS together operate the Southern California Seismic Network (SCSN), a seismic network of more than 250 seismometers throughout southern California for recording earthquakes. The SCSN is part of the TriNet seismic network, a cooperative project between the USGS, Caltech and the California Division of Mines & Geology (CDMG). The SCSN earthquake data is relayed back to a central computer in the Seismo Lab where it is processed and analyzed by USGS and Caltech staff. It is then archived by the Southern California Earthquake Data Center (SCEDC) Data Center at Caltech.

For USGS info, contact Linda Curtis at 583-7823. For earthquake data contact Katrin Hafner at Ext. 2106.

The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is located in the Mojave Desert about 45 miles north of Barstow, California. Named for the nearby Goldstone Dry Lake, the facility is situated on a 68-square-mile plot of land leased by NASA from the Department of Defense.

Goldstone is part of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The DSN is an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and selected Earth-orbiting missions, as well as radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe. The network is a facility of NASA, and is managed and operated by JPL. The Telecommunications and Mission Operations Directorate (TMOD) manages the program within JPL. The DSN currently consists of three deep-space communications facilities placed approximately 120 degrees apart around the world providing the capability of tracking any spacecraft 24 hours per day. The two other tracking stations are located near Madrid, Spain and near Canberra, Australia.

DSN science activities include Radio Science Observations, the Goldstone Solar System Radar, and Radio Astronomy, including Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI). Proposal information for radio astronomy with the DSN is available on-line.

Palomar Observatory, located on Palomar Mountain, about 130 miles from campus, is owned and operated by Caltech. The principal instruments at Palomar are the 200-inch Hale Telescope, the 48-inch Oschin Telescope, currently engaged in the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey, the 60-inch reflecting telescope, used mainly for graduate student research, and the 18-inch Schmidt telescope. Caltech shares use of the Hale Telescope with astronomers from Cornell and JPL.

Calls for proposals will be posted on GPS Division bulletin boards. For more information on who can apply for telescope time please contact the Palomar Office.

Visitors are welcome at the Observatory, which is open year-round, except December 24 and 25. The walking tour and the museum are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., while the 200-inch visitor's gallery is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Owens Valley Radio Observatory is the largest university-operated radio observatory in the world. The Observatory is located near Bishop, California, approximately 250 miles north of Los Angeles on the east side of the Sierra Nevadas. The major instruments at the Observatory are the Millimeter Wavelength Array, a 40-m telescope, a 5-m telescope, and a Solar Interferometer.

Graduate student research with the instruments at Owens Valley has been extensive. Major long-term commitments of observing time have been available to students enabling more innovative and comprehensive projects than would have been possible at the national observatory. Typically 5-7 graduate students are supported with fellowships and have done a significant fraction of their Ph.D. research with the Observatory instruments. Projects have ranged from purely observational research with the existing instrumentation to the design, development, and use of new instrumentation. Proposal information is available on-line.

The Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) is a cutting-edge facility for astronomical research and instrumentation development. It is simultaneously one of the world's premier submillimeter telescopes and one of the easiest to use. It consists of a 10.4-meter diameter Leighton radio dish situated in a compact dome near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawai'i. The telescope is operated by Caltech under a contract from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and has been operating on a regular basis since 1988. It is open to the astronomical community, with 55% of the observing time available for non-Caltech observers. CSO Observer Information is available on-line.

Heterodyne SIS receivers are available for the 230, 345, 490, and 665 GHz atmospheric windows with 3 1024-channel and 1 2048-channel acousto-optic spectrometers as backends (1 with 1.5 GHz bandwidth and 2048 channels; 2 with 500 MHz bandwidth and 1 with 50 MHz bandwidth). A single channel bolometer system is available for all atmospheric windows from 1.3 mm to 350 microns. The CSO also participates in short-baseline interferometry with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), located approximately 180 meters from the CSO. Potential observers may want to read the CSO/JCMT Interferometer Technical Specifications.

The twin Keck Telescopes are the largest optical and and infrared telescopes in the world. Each stands eight stories tall and weighs 300 tons, yet operates with nanometer precision. At the heart of each Keck Telescope is a revolutionary primary mirror. Ten meters in diameter, the mirror is composed of 36 hexagonal segments that work in concert as a single piece of reflective glass. Made possible through grants totalling more than $140 million from the W.M. Keck Foundation, the twin Keck telescopes are operated by the California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA). CARA is a scientific partnership between Caltech, the University of California, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Observing time on the Keck 10-m telescopes is available to members of four communities: The University of California (UC), The California Institute of Technology (Caltech), the University of Hawaii (UH) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Each community has its own Telescope Allocation Committee (TAC) that reviews proposals semi-annually and assigns time based on the scientific merit of each proposal. CIT Qualified applicants for Caltech time on the W. M. Keck Observatory should contact the Palomar Office for information.

The summit of Mauna Kea at nearly 14,000-feet altitude, presents unique challenges to visitors. Visits to the summit require a 30 minute acclimatization stop at the 9,200-foot Onizuka Visitor's Center, warm clothing for the summit, sunscreen for protection from excessive UV radiation, and water. A four-wheel-drive vehicle is required beyond the 9,200 foot level as the air is too thin to adequately cool a vehicle's brakes upon descent. At the summit, the Keck observatory visitor's gallery offers a 12-minute video on the Telescope project and science goals, large informational panels on the observatory layout and Keck science results, plus two public restrooms, and a viewing area of the Keck I Telescope inside the dome. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Monday-Friday. The Keck Observatory does not offer public tours.