On Krypton, the Science Complex was headed by Professor Ken-Dal and General Zod. Ken-Dal had been building a rocket ship designed to set up an observatory on the moon of Wegthor and his premiere test pilot was Lara Lor-Van, whom Professor Dal introduced to Jor-El. Ken-Dal would later attend their wedding with a time-travelling Kal-El.
When trapped in Krypton's past, Kal-El used Ken-Dal's launcher and secret warp fuel to send a needle missile quickly and accurately to Earth. Professor Dal leveraged this proof-of-concept to first run for a seat (unsuccessfully) on the Science Council against Tron-Et, and secondly to have production of a Space Ark begun in his home city of Kandor. Success built upon success and Ken-Dal was elected to the Science Council after Tron-Et was exposed as a criminal. Once a member of the Council, Ken-Dal supported Jor-El's conclusion that Krypton was only a few years from destruction and put all of his efforts into completing the Space Ark. Unfortunately, Brainiac stole Kandor, Professor Ken-Dal, Dal's rare supply of Warp Fuel, and the Space Ark itself.
