The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), is a federally-funded research and development center operating under contract to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). As NASA's lead center for deep-space exploration, JPL is responsible for unmanned planetary missions for the United States. JPL's contributions to the exploration of the solar system include participation in Earth-orbital projects and experiments, as well as studies of stellar systems and extra-solar-system bodies. Other sponsors for whom JPL performs work include the Department of Defense (DOD), Federal Avaiation Advministration (FAA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). At JPL, it has been the practice to record as moving images, the various phases of a flight project to show its research, design and development. On a regular basis, flight project offices contracted with the JPL Photolab to create such records.