Posted: Thu, Feb 1, 2001, 3:21 PM ET (2021 GMT)
Veteran JPL employee Charles Elachi was named director of the NASA-funded Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Wednesday. Elachi, a researcher and manager at the Caltech-operated lab since 1971, is best known for his work on space-based radar systems and other remote sensing techniques, including team leader of the Titan radar mapping experiment on the Cassini spacecraft. Elachi "knows JPL better than anyone and will be best able to lead the Laboratory in the coming years," said Caltech president David Baltimore. Elachi succeeds Edward Stone, who is retiring on May 1 after ten years as director to resume full-time teaching and research work at Caltech, where he is a professor of physics.

Related Links:

•  JPL press release