Frank Buckley Interviews

Dr. Charles Elachi is Professor (Emeritus) of Electrical Engineering and Planetary Science at the California Institute of Technology. He was the Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from 2001 to 2016. During his tenure as JPL Director, JPL launched 24 missions into space. Professor Elachi is featured in the KCET original "Blue Sky Metropolis," a four-part documentary miniseries about the history of aerospace in Southern California premiering on July 14th at 8 p.m. on KCET followed by airings on PBS SoCal on August 1st at 7 p.m. During this podcast, Professor Elachi discusses the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (on July 20, 1969) and the importance of aerospace in Southern California. Dr. Elachi also talks about the state of space exploration today, about the dramatic Mars landing in 2012, and he reveals his views on whether humans on earth will someday discover life on other planets.