WHAT: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., will host its 16th annual “Take Our Children To Work” day on Thursday, April 23. The event gives children ages nine to 17 a firsthand look at how their parents work on such space missions as the Mars Exploration Rovers, the Kepler planet-finding mission, the Herschel Space Observatory and the Grace Earth-gravity monitoring mission.
More than 500 children of JPL employees usually participate in this daylong
event. Activities include launching bottle rockets with Mars Exploration Rover
Project Manager John Callas, creating a planetarium, and getting “run over” by an eight-wheeled demonstration rover. Carnival games such as the “Saturn ring-toss” and “planetary black hole finder” will be featured. In addition, children can watch a 3-D movie about the Mars Exploration Rovers, and Todd Barber, the lead propulsion engineer on JPL’s Cassini mission to Saturn, will be the featured speaker.
The JPL event is patterned after the national “Take Our Daughters and Sons To
Work” Day, also held on April 23. The Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work
Foundation organizes the national event, whose theme this year is “Building
Partnerships To Educate and Empower.” JPL’s Human Resources Directorate
organizes “Take Our Children to Work” day, and more than two-dozen volunteers
from JPL organizations such as the Advisory Council for Women and the Asian-
American Council will participate.
WHEN: Thursday, April 23. Children’s activities will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, Calif. 91109.
RSVP: Credentialed news media representatives who would like to attend the
event must RSVP by Wednesday, April 22. Non-U.S. citizens must also call in advance and bring passports.
