PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov
Contact: Jane Platt
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nov. 7, 1997
JONES NAMED MANAGER OF SPACE INTERFEROMETRY MISSION
Christopher P. Jones, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, CA, has been appointed project manager of NASA'S Space
Interferometry Mission (SIM), which is scheduled for launch in
2005.
Jones will oversee the design, development and testing of
SIM, a mission that will locate stars and search for other
planetary systems within the Milky Way galaxy by detecting the
wobble of stars created by planets orbiting around them. The
mission will also look for signs of planet formation in disks of
material orbiting other stars.
The spacecraft's interferometer will combine and process
light gathered by multiple telescopes to calibrate the age,
distance and motion of objects in the universe, Jones said. In
addition, SIM is one of several missions planned for NASA's
Origins program, which is designed to study galaxies and stars
and look for other solar systems beyond Earth's own Sun.
"SIM will make precise measurements over very great
distances with extraordinary accuracy and stability," Jones said.
"I look forward to the challenge of quickly bringing forward the
needed technology."
Jones has spent the past seven years as spacecraft
development manager for the Cassini mission and served as mission
director at JPL during the successful launch of the spacecraft on
Oct. 15. During his 28 years at JPL, Jones has managed the
Laboratory's Spacecraft Systems Engineering and Guidance and
Control Sections and contributed to the design, test and flight
operations of such planetary spacecraft as Mariner 9, Voyager and
Galileo.
Jones holds a masters degree in aerospace engineering from
the University of Southern California and has received numerous
NASA awards and citations, including the NASA Exceptional Service
Medal for his design of the Voyager spacecraft fault protection
system.
Jones, a native of the Los Angeles area, lives in Pasadena
with his wife and son.
Additional information on the Origins program and SIM is
available on the Internet at the following URL's:
http://origins.jpl.nasa.gov/ and http://huey.jpl.nasa.gov/sim/
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