History of the

NASA JPL Computer Graphics Laboratory

The unmodified original image is by NASA (NASA JPL image) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The NASA JPL Computer Graphics Laboratory existed from 1977 to 1990 and was tasked with bringing the then new field of 3D computer graphics into applicable areas of NASA spaceflight operations. The lab produced computer animations of many spacecraft planetary encounters, including Voyager and Pioneer and other deep space missions. It also provided advanced computer graphics engineering support for the Voyager and other missions, and outside projects were Carl Sagan's Man and the Cosmos series, The Mechanical Universe, and the Annenberg Foundation's Mathematics! Series.

In memoriam

Robert (Bob) Holzman (1935 - 2020)
Without whom none of this would have happened.

Patricia (Patric) Prince (1942 - 2021)

SIGGRAPH 2019 BOF
How to Make a Planet: Visualizing Space at NASA/JPL

SIGGRAPH 2018 BOF
Creating Compelling CG Worlds at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

SIGGRAPH 2017 Panel Session
History of the JPL Computer Graphics Lab
Dr. Blinn's extended commentary on the history of the graphics lab

Smart Data Conference 2017
History of the NASA JPL Computer Graphics Laboratory as a Graph Database

Last updated 11-may-2025