JPL Annual Open House

WHAT: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., invites the public to its annual Open House. The event, themed “Great Journeys,” will feature a life-size model of Curiosity, the rover currently bound for Mars aboard NASA/JPL’s Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft; demonstrations from numerous other space missions; JPL’s machine shop, where robotic spacecraft parts are built; and the Microdevices Lab, where engineers and scientists use tiny technology to revolutionize space exploration.

JPL Open House includes hands-on activities and opportunities to talk with scientists and engineers. For the first time ever, cell phone users, using text-message capabilities, will be able to take part in a mobile scavenger hunt. “The Voyage” scavenger hunt participants can search for secret capsules hidden across JPL and unlock secret codes. (Message and data rates may apply).

Guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, post photos and videos, and invite friends, on JPL’s Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/events/325861567482245/ . Visitors using Twitter are invited to use the #JPLOpen hashtag. More information, and photos of Open House from previous years are online at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/open-house.cfm .

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, June 9 and 10, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE: JPL is located at 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif., 91109. Open House admission is free. Parking is also free, but is limited. To get to JPL, take the Berkshire Avenue/Oak Grove Drive exit from the 210 Freeway in La Canada/Flintridge. All visitors should wear comfortable shoes — no buses will be provided from JPL parking lots. JPL will provide vans for mobility-challenged guests.