Dr. Charles Elachi is the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), located in Pasadena, California, since May 1, 2001. He received his M.S. and Ph.D in electrical sciences from the California Institute of Technology of which he is now the vice president. At Caltech, he is also a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Planetary Science. The Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) near Pasadena, California builds and operates unmanned spacecraft for NASA. JPL-run projects include the Galileo Jupiter mission and the Mars rovers, including the 1997 Mars Pathfinder and the twin 2003 Mars Exploration Rovers. ... Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The California Institute of Technology (commonly known as Caltech) is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ...
CharlesElachi was born April 18, 1947 in Rayak, Lebanon.
During his 30 year career at JPL, CharlesElachi played the lead role in developing the field of spaceborne imaging radar from a small research area to a major field of scientific research and application, helping make JPL and NASA world leaders in the field of spaceborne imaging radars.
Elachi was the first to employ the Space Shuttle as a platform for imaging radar studies as the principal investigator of the Shuttle Imaging Radar-A in 1981, SIR-B in 1984, and SIR-C in 1994.
CharlesElachi, director of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Jet Propulsion Lab, said final preparations were underway with one 'exploration rover' arriving at Cape Canaveral this week and the second due in three weeks.
Elachi said three years of work had gone into the latest Mars mission at a cost of $800 million and scientists hoped to repeat the success of 1997's Mars Pathfinder mission, the first moveable buggy to land on Mars.
Elachi said the latest solar-powered robotic landers would be able to transmit information about Mars for between 90-120 days once they arrived, depending on amounts of sunlight.
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