Photos of the Day: The "Moon 2 Mars" NASA Social Event at JPL...

Just thought I'd end this month with these pics that I took on March 11...during the Moon 2 Mars NASA Social event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California. During this event, about 20 other social media users and I watched a televised conference held by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine (who was at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the time) from inside the von Kármán Auditorium at JPL. During the conference, Bridenstine discussed the 2020 NASA budget (which was just released earlier that morning)—and talked about major NASA projects such as the Space Launch System rocket and Gateway space station that NASA plans to place in orbit around the Moon next decade. The conference was also viewed by social media users who attended the Moon 2 Mars event at several other NASA field centers nationwide, such as Kennedy Space Center and the Langley Research Center in Virginia.



After the conference, our NASA Social group took a tour of difference facilities on the JPL campus. First up was the JPL Museum next door to the von Kármán Auditorium, and then after that, the historic Space Flight Operations Facility (a.k.a. "The Center of the Universe") up the hill. And afterwards, we walked over to the Spacecraft Assembly Facility (SAF) where the Mars 2020 rover continues to be built. And finally, we took a van to the Mars Yard—which is all the way at the top of a hill on the JPL campus. We could've walked to this facility, but we were running low on time (this NASA Social was only from 8:30 AM to 1 PM...and Bridenstine's conference lasted from 11 AM to 12 noon) and had to get there as soon as possible. And our JPL hosts were incredibly generous!



This marked the second time in a little over a month that I visited JPL (I attended a JPL public tour on February 4...but I apparently forgot to blog about it, heh)! I'll probably be back here in late May—for the annual Explore JPL event (formerly known as the JPL Open House). But first, I need to make sure that I get a ticket (which becomes available on the JPL website on April 6) for it... I'm well aware that I typed 'JPL' five times in this paragraph. Oh wait, make that six. Happy Sunday!