At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, I saw all the precision and preparation that goes into making a long voyage across the solar system. And I found out that NASA's robotic missions are continuing Lewis’ and Clark's tradition of scientific exploration, with spacecraft blazing trails to lots of other planets, as well as observing Earth from space. I toured mission control, where they talk with spacecraft across the solar system. I’ll bet they had a lot to say to NASA’s InSight Lander when it touched down on Mars just this past Monday!
NASA/Preston Dyches
I also visited JPL’s Spacecraft Assembly Facility, where they're building and testing parts of the next Mars rover mission. That spidery thing behind me is called a sky crane and it's going to Mars in 2020!)