Named in honor of Robert J. Parks, a leader in the exploration of the solar system. Early in his career at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he developed radio control and telemetry for the first guided missiles. As these techniques matured to become the basis for the control of and communication with interplanetary spacecraft, Parks was assigned overall responsibility for the first missions to Mercury, Venus and Mars, as well as for the first U.S. lunar lander, “Surveyor” and the “Voyager” missions to Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. His final position at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was deputy director, but throughout all his assignments his task was the same: to make sure the flight missions worked. Because of his expertise and dedication, they did. (M 25977) _ _.