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With a reputation for ingenious creativity and clever innovation, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California is a center known for its daring robotic missions to Mars and beyond. JPL's prosperous history dates back to the 1930s. The foundation for the laboratory was laid in the city of Pasadena by the California Institute of Technology. A curious group of university researchers was interested in experimenting with rocket engines. The risk of explosions caused campus leaders to send the group a few miles away, to the Arroyo Seco wash at the foot of the San Gabriel mountains. After developing rocket engines for military aircraft, the Caltech team was asked to analyze the German military's infamous V2 rocket. Its study of the V2 led to the group's proposal to engineer a missile system for the United States military. In their proposal, the team referred to themselves for the very first time as 'the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.' In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik - the first human-made satellite to be placed in space. With the start of the space race now officially underway, the United States Army responded by directing JPL to quickly construct a satellite of our own.