JPL closed since Friday

LA CAÑADA — NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada closed its Oak Grove site at 6 p.m. Friday as the Station fire continued to grow.

The fire had burned more than 42,000 acres as of Sunday afternoon, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The site was to remain closed, with minimum staffing, until at least this morning, said JPL spokeswoman Jane Platt. By Sunday afternoon, fire conditions around the site had “improved considerably,” according to the agency.

Until it reopened, nonessential personnel were prohibited from entering the campus, according to an announcement released Saturday.

The Oak Grove site is the main JPL campus and is involved with the development and construction of spacecraft, including the Mars rovers.

The Woodbury location, a satellite facility, remained open, Platt said.

The main campus was closed as a precautionary measure, mainly due to smoke and the potential for the fire to grow, Platt said. No space missions or projects would be affected because of the closure, she added.

Updates on the closure would be posted to the agency’s website, www.jpl.nasa. gov.