How NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory survived a series of early, near-fatal space failures
Following NASA's 1958 founding, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory faced a precarious start. This video recounts the lab's transition from early, humbling failures to pioneering successes in lunar and planetary exploration, highlighting the critical missions that shaped the future of American space travel.
JPL's initial lunar assignment involved the Ranger missions, which aimed to capture close-up images before crash-landing on the Moon. Despite having previously helped launch the first U.S. satellite, the laboratory struggled with a string of early failures that jeopardized its existence. One veteran engineer noted that the team was learning through trial and error without external guidance.
The laboratory eventually secured a major victory with the 1962 Mariner 2 flyby of Venus, marking the United States' first success in interplanetary space. Following the eventual success of the Ranger program, JPL managed the Surveyor missions. These soft-landing lunar probes served as essential pathfinders for the later Apollo astronauts.
