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Here's where the coordinates on the outer rim point to (For the lazy) https://goo.gl/maps/MCqYxngeQLJRMNeK7

Interestingly, their hands were somewhat tied when it came to coordinate system precision [1] because they had eight 7-bit words to encode with data.

They couldn't say "34.20 N 118.17 W", which would indicate they're talking about the whole campus and industrial park it's in, because that's only 6 words.

Instead, by defining it to a precision of one arcsecond, they imply that JPL is located within the 30-by-25-meter rectangle [2] between 34°11'58.5"N 118°10'31.5"W and 34°11'57.5"N 118°10'30.5"W, which is basically a turnaround and associated parking lot island.

[1] Relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/2170/ [2] Rectangular [3] because the circle around the earth at higher latitudes is smaller than the circle at the equator. [3] OK, approximately rectangular. It's rectangular on a Mercator projection map!

The coordinate square contains a lot of roadway, yes, but it also contains the front door to von Kármán Auditorium, which is where many of the public-facing lectures and press conferences are held. In other words, that square is basically the front door to the whole lab.

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