Monrovia Company's Technology Allows Mars Rover to Communicate

Did you know Monrovia has a direct line to Mars?

Local technology firm Exelis Inc. operates the Deep Space Network (DSN), a communications network that allows NASA to communicate with the Mars Rover Curiosity and more than 20 other U.S. spacecraft, accordin to Exelis spokesman B.J. Talley.

"The DSN main facility is there in Monrovia, with remote locations and antenna arrays located around the world," Talley wrote in an email to Patch.

The DSN is "an international network of antennas that supports interplanetary robotic spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe," according to the Exelis website.

The Mars Rover Curiosity sent over its first images from the red planet Monday after a that left local JPL scientists crossing their fingers.

Monrovia Mayor Mary Ann Lutz watched the landing unfold from the Exelis office on Shamrock Avenue Sunday night, according to her Facebook page.