Jpl

With the space shuttle Endeavour nearing Los Angeles airspace, a crowd started to amass at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, where there was a sense of mourning among some of the onlookers. "It's kind of sad, actually. It's sort of like a flag ceremony," said Steve Collins of the Curiosity Mars rover team. "It feels like they should be flying in the missing man formation. " Still, he said he was excited to meet up with several other rover team members to watch Endeavour's final flight, even if it is a somber occasion.

Officials have revealed some details of space shuttle Endeavour's aerial tour of California, a final flight that is to include low-level passes over the state Capitol, San Francisco and several Los Angeles landmarks. Riding piggyback on a modified 747 aircraft, the retired shuttle will depart Edwards Air Force Base about 7:15 a.m. Friday and will fly low over Palmdale, Lancaster, Rosamond and Mojave before heading north to Sacramento, NASA officials said. There, Endeavour will fly over the Capitol and turn to San Francisco, where those hoping to catch a glimpse of the shuttle are advised to watch from one of several Bay Area museums, including the Chabot Space and Science Center, the Exploratorium, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, the Lawrence Hall of Science and the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Floyd Alvin Paul, beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away on August 31, 2012. He was 89 years old. He joins his beloved wife of 60 years, Dorothy, who preceded him in death by three years. Floyd was the third of 4 sons of Burton Wesley and Emma Lovina Boyd Paul, born on March 14, 1923 in Medford, Oregon. He and his brothers, Homer, Gordon and Robert grew up in Glendale where Floyd played the clarinet in the Sheriff's Boys Band and at E. J. Toll Jr. High. His mother, Emma, supported herself and her 4 sons working as a pharmacist.

Calling the work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory “important for California,” Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday defended government investment in science, and in projects such as high-speed rail even at a time of deficits and cuts to core services. “If the idea is when you got a problem you don't do anything, then you shut this place down, that's stupid,” he said during his visit to the campus in La Cañada Flintridge. “You've got to do more than one thing. We have to invest as well, as we take care of all these other problems.

Visitors to Jet Propulsion Laboratory 's Space Flight Operations Facility were given one rule as they filed inside Saturday morning: Say 'wow.' The hub that manages missions and flights is usually closed to the public; but many got a rare, close-up look at the national historic landmark during the NASA center's open house, which will continue again Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. “That was fantastic,” said Kathy Ross. “You could see everything that they show on TV and all the stuff they don't.” Ross, from Studio City, was one of an estimated 17,700 visitors to tour JPL. She was on hand with her 8-year-old son, David.

A man who claims he lost his job at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory because he voiced support for the theory of intelligent design is seeking $1.36 million in damages and lost wages, according to court papers filed as the case winds down. David Coppedge, a former administrator on the Cassini project to Saturn, is seeking $860,000 for lost wages and $500,000 for emotional distress damages. Attorneys for Coppedge claimed in Los Angeles County Superior Court earlier this year that his discussions of intelligent design with co-workers led to discipline that improperly curtailed his free speech rights, amounting to religious discrimination.

Attorneys argued Monday that it was either religious intolerance or workplace incompetence that drove systems administrator David Coppedge from a post at Jet Propulsion Laboratory last year. Monday's arguments capped a five-week trial in Coppedge's lawsuit against the NASA lab in La Cañada Flintridge, in which he claimed he was removed from his job in 2011 because of his advocacy of the theory of intelligent design of the universe. “This is a series of retaliation - a series of subtly damaging injuries all starting from David's reaction” to discriminatory actions taken by supervisors, said William Becker, Coppedge's attorney.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) is facing six opponents to represent the redrawn 28th Congressional District, but they will have to overcome incredible odds and funding disadvantages to mount a serious challenge to the long-time congressman. Schiff raised $725,559 in 2011, bringing his total campaign cash on hand to more than $2.1 million, according to the Federal Election Commission. He's also led several high-visibility initiatives in the past several months, such as working to stop proposed funding cuts to Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars program and pushing the U.S. Forest Service to reinstitute night flights when battling wild fires.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) grilled NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during a House budget hearing Wednesday on proposed funding cuts to Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars program, calling them a major step backward for the nation. Schiff, whose district includes the JPL campus in La Cañada Flintridge, pressed Bolden for nearly 17 minutes about NASA's plan to scrap two robotic Mars missions that would likely lead to hundreds of layoffs at JPL, where the programs operated. Without continued funding, many Mars mission job duties would end in August after the touchdown of the new Curiosity rover.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) grilled NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during a House budget hearing Wednesday on proposed funding cuts to Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars program, calling them a major step backward for the nation. Schiff, whose district includes the JPL campus in La Cañada Flintridge, pressed Bolden for nearly 17 minutes about NASA's plan to scrap two robotic Mars missions that would likely lead to hundreds of layoffs at JPL, where the programs operated. Without continued funding, many Mars mission job duties would end in August after the touchdown of the new Curiosity rover.